Dudy Purwagandhi ensures that the government is trying to maintain a balance between adjusting airfare rates and protecting people's purchasing power amid rising global energy prices.
He said the increase in jet fuel prices triggered by the surge in world crude oil prices due to geopolitical dynamics in the Middle East had put pressure on airline operating costs.
To mitigate the impact on airfare rates, the government has taken a number of mitigation steps, one of which is by adjusting the fuel surcharge (FS) component.
"A number of strategies are being carried out so that the increase in air ticket prices can be suppressed," said Dudy as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, April 7.
He explained that the adjustment of the fuel surcharge was set at 38 percent, from the previous 10 percent for jet aircraft and 25 percent for propeller aircraft.
According to Dudy, this policy was taken to maintain a balance between the sustainability of the national aviation industry, which is facing operational cost pressures, and consumer protection.
In addition to adjusting the fuel surcharge, the government also provided fiscal stimulus to hold off the tariff hike.
One of them is through the Government-Underwritten Value Added Tax (PPN DTP) scheme of 11 percent for domestic economy class air tickets.
With this scheme, the government has prepared subsidies of around Rp1.3 trillion per month, or Rp2.6 trillion for a two-month period.
The government also removed import duties on aircraft parts (spare parts) to reduce the cost of maintenance and operations of airlines.
"It is hoped that this policy will also reduce the burden on national airlines," said Dudy.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said that the price of jet fuel had a significant contribution to the airline's cost structure.
According to him, avtur contributes around 40 percent of the total cost of airline operations.
Therefore, the government is trying to ensure that the increase in ticket rates remains under control.
"The government is keeping the increase in ticket prices within the range of 9 percent to 13 percent," said Airlangga.
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