Domestic airlines call on airports not to raise charges too much

Leony Aurora , The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Airlines will accept an increase in domestic route charges planned by airport operators as long as it is within reasonable limits, officials said.

"The route charge alone may seem small," Jaka Pujiyono, Merpati Nusantara Airlines' marketing manager, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. "But other services have also increased since October (last year)."

Fees for airbridges -- connectors between airplanes and terminal buildings -- were increased by 40 percent, he said. The check-in counter rates had also risen.

Airport services accounted for about 5 to 6 percent of the airlines' operational costs, Jaka said.

State-owned PT Angkasa Pura II (APII), the operator of air and ground traffic in 10 major airports in western Indonesia, including Soekarno-Hatta international airport, plans to triple its domestic route charge from Rp 350 (4 U.S. cents) per route unit to Rp 1,000, almost tripling the fair.

The increase triggered a protest from the Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INACA), which had proposed an increase of only 60 percent in April and another 15 percent in October.

Route charges are calculated based on each aircraft's load and the route's distance. For example, a Boeing 737 (load factor 26), going from Pontianak to Jakarta (distance factor 7), has to pay Rp 63,700 on today's rate, but would have to pay Rp 182,000 under APII's proposed new rate.

"Its impact on ticket prices may be small, but for airlines, it will be significant," said Burhanuddin, INACA's Secretary General.

PT Angkasa Pura I, which controls 13 airports in eastern Indonesia, has also planned to increase the route charge to Rp 1,000, Buurhanuddin said.

The planned increase was still being discussed and was not yet final.

Some airlines agreed to the route charge increase as long as it improved the welfare of the airport staff, including those in the communication towers.

"They (the tower operators) are in charge of guiding us to a safe landing, Lion Air public relations manager Hasyim Alhabsi said.

He confirmed that the increase would not influence Lion Air's ticket prices, which saw a cut by between 15 percent and 20 percent earlier this year.

Jaka also said the increase was understandable, since the last time airport charges were increased was three years ago.

"But please take into consideration that airfares have been lowered tremendously," Jaka said. Airport operators also reaped in benefits from the jump in the number of passengers, he said.