With this "Happy Hour" policy, Indonesian people are getting more eager to fly. (Image via: Malang Post Online)

Uh-oh, Transportation Ministry to Evaluate Cheap Flight Ticket Next Week

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Politics & Economic
Regulation
Jul 20, 2019
1830
JAKARTA - Will it be the end of happy hour tickets? We will see it by next week. On Monday (22/7) next week, Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi, is going to attend coordination meeting with the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Darmin Nasution, to discuss Low-Cost Carrier (LCC).

Taking the initiative, Budi Karya said on Friday (19/7) that the discussion is going to encompass from the evaluation over happy hour LCC – the time when flight ticket is sold at a low price for certain length of time - to the polemics of reporting government’s regulation to the Ombudsman, even though the Ombudsman has not made any summons for the 2 ministers yet.

For the evaluation over happy hour LCC, it is considered as a must to ensure that the airline has complied with the regulations.

Previously, starting on Thursday (11/7), the Indonesian government require all airlines to give 50% discounts from its airfare ceilings for 30% happy hour flights. The discount applies on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 10.00 a.m to 2.00 p.m local time. About 11,626 seats are slapped by the discount, provided by Citylink (3,348 seats) for 62 flights per day and Lion Air (8,278 seats) for 146 flights per day.

Regarding the persistent actions of some airlines that did not want to cut the ticket price, Budi Karya did not comment. Budi Karya only asserted that these persistent actions would also be included in the upcoming discussion.

Previously, Indonesia National Air Carriers Association (INACA) reported Transportation Ministerial Decree no. 106/2019 to the Ombudsman because they accused the Decree of maladministration and breaching certain business provisions. However, Budi Karya asserted that the Decree did not violate any regulation because the government has the authority to regulate the matter.

The Decree requires full-service airlines to decrease its airfare ceilings by as much as 16%. INACA claimed that the government “forced” LCC airlines to give a 50% discount on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 10.00 a.m to 2.00 p.m.

From the complaint, the member of the Ombudsman, Alvin Lie, said that Darmin Nasution had intervened too much.

Of course, the statement shocked the Coordinating Minister. The former Governor of Bank Indonesia (BI) refused Lie’s statement, saying that if he wanted to intervene much, he would have made the policies even “friendlier” for the people.

Nasution then pointed out that the policy was a win-win deal from all parties involved such as the Ministry of Transportation as the main regulator, the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises, and several chairpersons of some airlines such as Garuda Indonesia, Lion Air Group, etc.

Source: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/ekonomi/20190719165204-92-413712/menhub-bakal-evaluasi-diskon-tiket-pesawat-pekan-depan

Regulation , Aviation , Flight , Happy-Hour , Airlines , Garuda-Indonesia , Lion-Air , LCC , INACA