Domestic airlines call on airports not to raise charges too much
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.