According To Consumers, Ticket Prices For Christmas And New Year's Holidays Are Currently Considered Fair

The atmosphere is at the departure gate of Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta, Saturday (12/12/2023). (Between/Shofi Ayudiana)

JAKARTA - A number of passengers at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, Jakarta, assessed that the increase in plane ticket prices during the 2023 Christmas and 2024 New Year holidays was still reasonable.

One of the passengers, Ekawati, said that she got a ticket worth Rp. 1.1 million for Palembang's destination, more expensive than ordinary days in the range of Rp. 900 thousand. However, he admitted that he did not mind the increase.

"The price has indeed increased, but it is natural because of holidays," he said when met at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, Jakarta, Saturday.

A similar view was conveyed by other travelers, Narso. The passengers bound for Surabaya do not care about the current increase in ticket prices, especially when it occurs during holidays such as Christmas and New Year.

"I got a price of Rp. 1.5 million, the price is still reasonable like other holidays," he said as quoted by Antara.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation, Adita Irawati, at the opening of the 2023 Christmas and New Year 2024 Transportation Center Command Post in Jakarta, Tuesday (19/12), revealed that there were three airlines that violated the provisions for selling tickets at a price above the threshold for the momentum of Christmas 2023 and New Year 2024.

Although he did not mention the name of the airline that violated the rules, Adita said that violations of ticket sales at prices exceeding the upper limit tended to occur on routes that were only controlled or operated by one airline.

He said the Ministry of Transportation would impose sanctions in stages according to the provisions, starting with sanctions in the form of warnings.

According to him, the increase in plane ticket prices ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays is something that is natural considering there is a surge in demand.

The survey by the Transportation Policy Agency of the Ministry of Transportation noted that as many as 107 million residents will travel for tourism and homecoming during the 2023 Christmas and 2024 New Year holidays.

Based on the survey results of the 40 thousand respondents, as many as 11 percent of them chose to use the aircraft as a mode of transportation.