Sandiaga Uno: Airplane Tickets Are Expensive, 20-30 Percent Of People Choose Land Routes For Vacations

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Uno predicts that around 20-30 percent of people will use the land route for year-end holidays following expensive airline tickets.

He also asked the public to be able to plan the year-end holidays well.

"We take this opportunity to ensure that the holiday will remain the main choice, although approximately 20-30 percent of domestic tourists will use the road," he said at the Weekly Press Briefing in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Monday, August 15.

Sandiaga acknowledged the high price of airplane tickets based on the Decree of the Minister of Transportation Number 142 of 2022 concerning the Amount of Surcharges Due to Fluctuations in Fuel (Fuel Surcharge) Passenger Tariffs for Economy Class Services for Domestic Scheduled Commercial Air Transport.

In the decree, airlines can increase additional costs for jet type aircraft to a maximum of 15 percent of the upper limit fare, and 25 percent for propeller type aircraft.

The former Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta added that the increase in air ticket prices was also triggered by the lack of flights and the limited number of seats.

"So, those who want to take a vacation, let's plan it well," he added.

Sandiaga is also optimistic that the tourism sector can recover by the end of the year. The year-end holiday momentum is considered to be the peak season for the tourism industry.

He also invited tourism actors to be able to provide more attractive tourism packages in order to attract tourists to stay on vacation even though the price of plane tickets is still expensive.

"Because we will make sure that tourism will recover by the end of the year during the peak season and we can respond to this increase with more attractive tourism packages so that our overall vacation will not be burdensome," he said.

"For those who want to heal, fix their feelings, they are also refreshing, this is not a headache. We use this opportunity to ensure that the holidays will be the first choice," he added.