JAKARTA - Minister of Transportation Dudy Purwagandhi emphasized that strengthening domestic flights is a strategy to deal with the closure of airspace in a number of countries that disrupt global connectivity and have the potential to suppress mobility and travel demand.
He said the government had held off on raising domestic ticket rates so that they would remain affordable, so that people could travel and economic activity and national mobility would be maintained amid external pressures.
"That's why we keep the domestic ticket increase not too high so that people can still travel," said the Minister of Transportation, quoted by Antara, Friday, April 10.
According to him, the stability of domestic tariffs is important to maintain passenger movement when global dynamics put pressure on international flights and the tourism sector.
Dudy said the experience of the economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic showed that the domestic market was the main support for tourism when foreign tourist visits fell sharply.
"During the crisis and COVID-19, the domestic market became a cushion for tourism. Therefore, we keep people traveling," he said.
The government, he continued, is trying to ensure that domestic travel continues to run in order to maintain the sustainability of the tourism industry and support national economic growth.
"This step is also to anticipate a decrease in the flow of tourists from abroad," said Dudy.
He also responded to the issue of airspace restrictions, including by China, which was considered to have an impact on Indonesian aviation and tourism, even though it was beyond the control of the government.
According to him, each country has its own considerations in flight policy, so Indonesia cannot intervene and must adapt its steps adaptively.
"The impact is there, such as a decline in tourism. We cannot forbid other countries to reduce flights because their conditions must be understood," he said.
In addition, the increase in global jet fuel prices also put pressure on the aviation industry, so policies are needed to maintain the balance between operating costs and people's purchasing power.
Dudy hopes that the global conditions will improve soon so that international flights recover, while strengthening the domestic market continues to be carried out as a mitigation of the decline in foreign tourists.
"The increase in avtur is global. We hope that this condition will improve. The closure of airspace in China will have an impact on Indonesia," he said.
He emphasized that the increase in the domestic economy class airfare should not exceed the maximum limit of 13 percent in accordance with government policy.
The government has set a range of 9 to 13 percent tariff increases for economy class and asked airlines to comply with the rules without taking excessive advantage.
"It can't be more than that," said the Minister of Transportation.
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