Airfares to Papua Reaching Rp10 Million Pose Serious Economic Problem
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The still-high price of plane tickets remains one of the challenges for Indonesia’s tourism industry. This condition not only burdens people who want to travel, but also suppresses tourism activity and hotel occupancy, especially in areas that are highly dependent on air transport.
Secretary General of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Maulana Yusran said the pressure is most felt in archipelagic regions and areas at the eastern edge of Indonesia, particularly Papua and Maluku. This is because residents and tourists do not have many alternative transport options to reach these areas.
“This is what happens in areas that are perhaps archipelagic, or in areas at the eastern tip, where movement is only by air. For example, from Jakarta to Papua alone it may already reach Rp10 million for a plane ticket,” Maulana told CNBC Indonesia on Tuesday (18/8/2026).
He assessed that expensive plane tickets are a serious problem for regions that rely on the movement of tourists and business travellers from Java. If the cost of reaching a destination is too high, public mobility could be held back and ultimately impact the tourism sector, including hotels and restaurants.
“That is quite expensive, how can they move their economy if the plane ticket price is already quite expensive in Indonesia,” he said.
Maulana explained that the current high price of plane tickets cannot be separated from a number of pressures facing the aviation industry. One of them is the increase in the price of aviation fuel, or avtur, influenced by geopolitical dynamics.
“Indeed, this is a challenge in itself when we talk about plane ticket prices, because even before we talk about the Iran war, we were still talking about domestic plane ticket prices that are relatively uncompetitive compared to international ticket prices. So it is quite expensive,” he said.
He said the problem is becoming more complex because avtur prices are rising along with the dynamics of war. On the other hand, the aviation industry is also facing spare part issues and the high dependence of the aviation business on the US dollar.
“At the moment, the dynamics of fuel prices, especially avtur prices, are also increasing, along with the problems of war. This is becoming one of the obstacles that adds another issue, besides the problem of spare parts and so on. Moreover, if we talk about the aviation business, they are very dependent on the US dollar, which will also be an obstacle,” Maulana explained.
A picture of the high cost of flights to the eastern region can also be seen from ticket price monitoring on online travel agent (OTA) platforms on Tuesday (18/8/2026).
For the Jakarta (CGK)-Jayapura (DJJ) route with departure on Wednesday (19/8/2026), economy ticket prices observed were in the range of Rp3.2 million to Rp4.7 million for a one-way trip. A number of flights are available with one transit, while a direct Batik Air flight was recorded at around Rp4.74 million.
On the reverse route, Jayapura-Jakarta, the cheapest economy ticket seen was around Rp3.2 million with one transit. Meanwhile, a direct Batik Air flight was in the range of Rp4.2 million.
Higher ticket prices were seen on the Jakarta-Merauke route. For departure on 19 August 2026, ticket prices were observed starting from around Rp5 million. Meanwhile, for the reverse route, Merauke-Jakarta, ticket prices were in the range of Rp4.1 million to Rp4.8 million.
Meanwhile, the Jakarta-Ambon route is relatively cheaper compared to the Jakarta-Jayapura and Jakarta-Merauke routes. Economy ticket prices for Jakarta-Ambon flights were observed starting from around Rp2.39 million. However, for the Ambon-Jakarta route on the same date, flight ticket prices were actually higher, starting from around Rp4.12 million.
These prices are the result of monitoring at one point in time on an OTA and may change according to seat availability, airline, booking time, and flight conditions.