Commission VIII Of The House Of Representatives Asked Garuda Indonesia To Charge The 2023 Hajj Pilgrims Flight Fee Of IDR 2 Million

Illustration of the pilgrimage. (Alanews)

JAKARTA - The leadership of Commission VIII of the DPR asked PT Garuda Indonesia to lower the flight fee for the departure of pilgrims of IDR 1 to IDR 2 million to reduce the increase in the cost of organizing the 2023 Hajj pilgrimage (BPIH). Deputy Chairman of Commission VIII of the DPR Ace Hasan Syadzily assessed that the flight costs of Hajj pilgrims amounting to Rp33.4 million proposed by the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) are still burdensome for the congregation.

"Of course, of the Rp. 33.4 million for this flight, we still ask Garuda to reduce it again. We are targeting a decrease of at least Rp. 1 or Rp. 2 million, so that it can reduce the cost of Hajj this year," said Ace at the Senayan parliament complex, Jakarta, Thursday, February 9.

Ace mengatakan, biaya haji tahun ini tidak boleh berbeda jauh dengan tahun sebelumnya, di mana tahun 2022 biaya haji bekisar Rp39,8 juta. Sehingga menurutnya, jemaah tidak merasa diberatkan oleh biaya haji.

"At least when referring to last year, the flight fee is IDR 29.5 million. We hope that this year there will also not be an increase as sharply as proposed this year," explained the West Java electoral district Golkar legislator. In addition, asking for flight costs to go down, Ace admitted, currently his party continues to comb through other hajj costs components. Such as hotel costs and food catering by not reducing service quality.

"What we are thinking about so far is that what Commission VIII has done is, first, we comb all components of the cost of Hajj, both services at home and abroad. Until now, we continue to conduct sweeps of components of the cost of accommodation or hotels in Saudi Arabia and also catering or consumption costs while in Saudi Arabia while still not reducing the quality of service to the congregation," said Ace.

Previously, PT Garuda Indonesia proposed the cost of hajj airlines of Rp. 33.4 million during a meeting with Commission VIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives today at the parliament complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Thursday, February 9. The cost proposal decreased by around Rp. 500 thousand from the Ministry of Religion's proposal (Kemenag) of Rp. 33.9 million. However, this proposal is just an assumption. "So with these assumptions, which are currently still limited, we calculate the direct and indirect, the cost, the total cost is around Rp. 31,431,353, the airport building charge is Rp. 1,191,253, and the total cost is Rp. 32,622,606, we calculate that the margin last year is 2.5 margins, so it is around Rp. 33,438,171," said Director of Services and Commerce of PT Garuda Indonesia Ade R Susar.