Alleged Consumer Rights Violations Over Baggage: International Airline Served with Demand Letter

An aviation activist and consumer rights advocate from ASTINA, Azas Tigor Nainggolan, has served a first demand letter to the management of Singapore Airlines (SQ) on Tuesday, 3 March 2026, following a complaint by Indonesian passenger Maria R (MR) about baggage handling and service quality. The incident arose from a Melbourne–Singapore–Jakarta itinerary on 2 March 2026, involving flights SQ 218 and SQ 950, where the passenger’s baggage had been checked through but was reported missing upon arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, preventing MR from attending a family event. ASTINA says the passenger and her parents did not receive adequate information about the bag’s status on arrival (live tracing). In addition to baggage issues, the lawyers highlight an interaction between the passenger and an airline staff member in Jakarta identified only by the initials ‘A’. “International airlines should not act arbitrarily toward Indonesian passengers. A bag lost without clarity constitutes serious negligence and a violation of the law. It is even more troubling when the consumer is challenged to sue,” Azas Tigor said on Wednesday (4/3). He noted that a similar incident had previously affected the client’s family in January 2026 on a Business Class flight from Paris to Singapore, where the family’s bag was reported damaged but the claim for repair by staff at Changi Airport has yet to be fulfilled. Legally, Tigor contends that the actions violate Law No. 8 of 1999 on Consumer Protection and Law No. 1 of 2009 on Aviation. Under these laws, airlines hold strict liability over passenger baggage during their supervision. The demand letter was delivered personally to Singapore Airlines’ representative office in the Lingkar Mega Kuningan area of Jakarta at 14:21 Western Indonesia Time. The airline has 14 days to provide an official response. If no agreement is reached within that period, ASTINA intends to report the case to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (Direktorat Jenderal Perhubungan Udara) of the Ministry of Transportation and to the National Consumer Protection Agency (BPKN).