Ticketing Strategy: Efforts To Increase Interest In People Riding Aircraft In The Dutch East Indies Era

The plane belongs to the KNILM airline which serves the Batavia-Bandung route. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The world of aviation was greeted with great fanfare in the Dutch East Indies (now: Indonesia). How to travel a new style by airplane is considered popular quickly. However, it is not an easy matter to start a world of aviation.

The injection of air transportation from the military to civilians claimed many lives. The favorite airline of the Dutch East Indies, Koninklijke Nederlandsch-Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij (KNILM) racked their brains so that people would want to take the plane. Ticket price corting strategy was also played.

The Dutch East Indies Royal Army (KNIL) had a big role in pioneering the aviation world in the archipelago. The effort was carried out in 1914. The completion efforts did not go smoothly. KNIL officials who were victims of the air accident were piled up.

The KNIL also refused defeat. Instead of giving up, the KNIL actually started to build airfields here and there massively. Everything is done to be able to build the future of the world of aviation in the Dutch East Indies.

Recently, the smell of profit from the world of aviation has begun to be kissed by entrepreneurs in the Netherlands. They smelled the benefits behind the short travel time. The proposal to build the Civil Aviation Service was echoed.

The government in the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies could not reject the proposal that was considered revolutionary. The presence of the KNILM civilian airline was a follow-up to the wishes of the rulers and entrepreneurs. The KNILM was formed in 1928. The presence of the KNILM began with four Fokker VII aircraft.

Each of the aircraft registered with HN-AFA, HN-AFB, HN-AFC and HN-AFD. Never imagine the current facilities to be present on the plane first. One aircraft can only carry eight passengers and carry 300 kg of baggage.

The remaining excess baggage will be guaranteed to be sent by ship or train. The plane is far from luxurious. Passengers only sit in rattan seats without any seat belts. Even without being served by a steward or flight attendant. Flight routes are still limited.

Security matters are clearly the umpteenth number. This condition is because the pioneering world of Dutch East Indies flights has claimed many lives. The image was brought to civil flights. This condition means that the KNILM is often preserved by the people in the Dutch East Indies: If you ride it Dies quickly. A name that prevents people from working or traveling by airplane.

"Brushed on air force uniforms equipped with a kesepriem (Rat belt), after completing MULO education in 1941, with several friends, I wrote a letter of application to be accepted for military flight training at the KNILM in Bandung".

"I also convey my seriousness to be able to join the KNILM to my parents and family, including my brother-in-law. However, no one agreed because they connected the KNILM acronym with a series of words: If it increases, it will die quickly," said Indonesian police figure Moehammad Jasin in the book Memoar Jasin The Fighting Police: Correcting the History of the Indonesian Police (2010).

The image of the acronym That Rising Fast Dies has a big impact on the world of civil aviation. Business owners continue to promote so that the aviation business continues to sell well. They also began to organize cheap flights (subsidies), charters, highways, photography, and other interests.

The KNILM has also started using a discounted price strategy for airplane passengers who buy tickets to go back and forth at once. The corting of aircraft ticket assets is given only for return trips as much as 15 percent of the ticket price.

However, the ticket back and forth must be paid in full. Tickets again are limited to the next six weeks after the flight leaves. The corting also applies to children. Because those who are seven years of age and over are required to pay in full.

Ticket corting applies to aircraft routes from Batavia (now: Jakarta) and to Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Medan, to Singapore (via Palembang). Tickets at that time depend on the area. Batavia-Semarang tickets are in the range of 60 guilders. Batavia-Surabaya is priced at 90 guilders and Batavia-Medan is valued at 225 guilders.

The flight was carried out Monday-Saturday, Sunday off. The airline owner also gave special discounts to those who registered as members of the Dutch East Indies Aviation Association. They have to pay around 12 guilders per year.

Profits as members followed afterwards. They can get a ticket corting of 10 percent three times (three flights on a road) for a year. They are also privileged to get other bonuses. The study was to foster the interest of the Dutch East Indies on a plane.

"In addition to getting coring rights by paying a contribution of 15 guilders per year, members also get a monthly Luxtvaart (flight) magazine every month," wrote Dharmasena magazine report entitled Naik Aircraft 50 Years Ago (1988).