TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Aviation observer Alvin Lie said that Indonesia's Ministry of Transportation's (Kemenhub) policy of reducing airfares by 10 percent during Christmas 2024 and New Year 2025 (Nataru) is not appropriate if it is continued during the 2025 Eid period. "The government should not implement a policy like this. Both for Nataru and Eid," he said in a messaging application on Saturday, January 4, 2025.

The government has previously been given the space to decide ticket prices based on the rules on the Upper Limit Tariff (TBA) and Lower Limit Tariff (TBB) for airfares in Indonesia. This is regulated in the Decree of the Minister of Transportation Number 106 of 2019. "There is already a Ministerial Regulation on TBA and TBB, which formulates ticket prices within that corridor by considering various factors," he said.

Alvin assessed that the regulation has been in effect since 2019, therefore as long as airlines or companies do not violate the rules, the policy of reducing airfare prices is not appropriate to implement. "Airlines have complained because they are no longer in accordance with the actual operating costs, now they are being forced to go down again," he said.

The policy is not right because it burdens one party, so it will disrupt and affect the quality of flights. This has a negative impact on the company's financial health which can ultimately threaten flight safety and the sustainability of the company's life. "When will airlines be able to breathe financially, their debts that have piled up during the pandemic are still in arrears," he said.

Based on data released by the Directorate General of Air Transportation, the total number of air passengers during the 2025 Christmas and New Year period increased by 10 percent. Even so, he considered that the figure did not show a significant increase because the increase was 10 percent compared to the same period last year. "It is only equivalent to the average growth this year compared to last year," he said.

Meanwhile, Acting Director General of Air Transportation Lukman F. Laisa assessed that the 10 percent increase in passengers showed that the public's enthusiasm for using airplanes as a mode of transportation during the Christmas and New Year period had increased significantly.

"This year, it turns out that the public's enthusiasm for using airplanes as a mode of transportation during Christmas and New Year is quite high. The number of airplane passengers increased by 10 percent compared to last year. This number is above the previous prediction of only 5 percent," he said in a written statement on January 3, 2025.

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