Getting Around The Quiet Airport With A Block Seat Scheme, What Is That?

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - A number of airports in Indonesia still look deserted because there are no commercial flights. Only at certain times do charter planes or cargo planes land.

This deserted airport invited criticism from various groups, including people's representatives and observers. There are even media who call it a "ghost airport" because it is quiet.

Critics regretted that airports that were built with large amounts of public money, through the APBN and APBD, turned out to be deserted. There are also those who question the feasibility study for the construction of the airport.

The public's criticism is of course a consideration for regulators, including the Ministry of Transportation. Reporting from Antara, Tuesday, November 29, various efforts were taken to invite airlines to fly to this deserted airport. In addition, the government also provides stimulus to help airline and airport operations.

There are at least four such stimuli, namely:

1. Stimulus of flight calibration costs for the purposes of calibrating flight navigation equipment and airport equipment

2. Stimulus for aircraft passenger services (PJP2U) in 2020

3. Application of a non-tax state revenue rate (PNBP) of IDR 0 (zero rupiah) for landing services as well

4. Aircraft landing, placement, and storage services (PJP4U) at airports managed by the Ministry of Transportation.

In the view of the regulator, this stimulus would be more ideal if followed by similar steps by the local government where the airport is located. To encourage regional government stimulus, the Ministry of Transportation is coordinating with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The coordination meeting between the two ministries was packaged under the heading "Continuing Air Transportation Connectivity and Regional Government Support". The coordination meeting took place in Jakarta last week.

The first thing raised by the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi in the coordination meeting was the importance of stimulus. Therefore the Minister of Transportation invited the local government to participate in creating a stimulus to jointly restore flights to the regions.

This needs to be done as a joint effort between the Central Government, the regions, and all aviation sector stakeholders to maintain air connectivity after the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the sake of occupancy

One of the regional government stimulus put forward by the Minister of Transportation is the willingness to do a block seat scheme. In terms of this regional government stimulus, block seats mean that each regional government will buy airplane seats for official travel needs with a certain quota so that the level of occupancy is always adequate.

The Minister of Transportation revealed that a number of regional governments had made real efforts to provide the block seat stimulus. For example in Toraja, South Sulawesi. The local government guarantees occupancy of passengers or block seats of around 60-70 percent of the total available seats.

Then there is the Purbalingga Regency Government, Central Java, which did a block seat to revive JB Soedirman Airport. Even the government of other districts helped.

Purbalingga Regent Dyah Hayuning Pratiwi explained the role of local governments around JB Soedirman Airport such as Banyumas, Pemalang, Banjarnegara and Wonosobo Regencies to take part in the block seat. Each regional government utilizes air transportation for official travel to the relevant ministries or the central government.

As a guest speaker at the Coordination Meeting between the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Home Affairs "Continuing Air Transportation Connectivity and Local Government Support" in Jakarta, the Tiwi Regent stated that he also invited village governments to participate in nurturing or maintaining the survival of the airport by taking official trips by plane.

The block seat scheme is not always implemented. This scheme is a kind of angler for common punters. If the airport is already full of passengers, the block seat scheme is stopped. Giving block seats usually lasts the first 3-4 months.

There are two models of support provided by the regional government, namely: first, the non-stimulus model, namely the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum, and all stakeholders who are committed to traveling by air transportation. Second, the stimulus model (incentive), in which the local government subsidizes aircraft operating costs (BOP) and guarantees a certain number of seats sold (block seats).

Apart from local government support, the Minister of Transportation also encourages the role of airport operators and airlines to continue to improve their flight performance. For example, adding operational hours at a number of airports, so that there will be more aircraft movements and from an operational standpoint, it will be more efficient.

Apart from block seats, there is also a more "bold" stimulus, namely aircraft charter. This aircraft lease will be carried out by the Jember Regency Government in East Java in order to revive Notohadinegoro Airport.

The plan surfaced when Jember Regent Hendy Siswanto announced that he would rent a Grand Caravan 208 B aircraft to revive Notohadinegoro Airport. The airport has been out of operation for a long time because there are no commercial flights.

Commercial flights using the Grand Caravan 208 B charter aircraft with nine passengers are scheduled to materialize on January 1, 2023. The Jember-Surabaya flights are scheduled for 06.00 and 16.00 WIB, while the Surabaya-Jember flights are at 07.00 and 17.00 WIB.

This rental scheme is pursued so that residents who want to quickly reach their destination choose the mode of air transportation. From Surabaya to Jember, for example, there are often traffic jams, especially around Klakah District, Lumajang Regency, because the roads are narrow (bottleneck), so a solution is needed to overcome this so that visits to Jember increase.

The solution is to revive the mode of air transportation, as well as revive Notohadinegoro Airport in Ajung District.

The Jember Regency Government will conduct a one-year trial charter of the Grand Caravan 208 B aircraft for commercial flights at Notohadinegoro Airport. Pemkab provides subsidies to passengers by 50 percent.

The concrete steps of the regional government are what the central government really hopes for so that the growth of flights at each airport increases rapidly.