Endorsable tickets to end discount war among airlines

Endorsable tickets to end discount war among airlines

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian National Air Carriers Association
will begin issuing endorsable tickets and form a clearing house
to end discount wars among domestic airliners, says the
association's chairman, Soelarto Hardisoemarto.

"With endorsable tickets, domestic passengers who are booked
with a particular airline can easily change their bookings to
another airline if for some reasons they can't use their original
booking," Soelarto told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

"The scheme will also help end discount wars," he added.

Last month the association fined five domestic airlines Rp 10
million each (about US$4,200) for violating an agreement on
allowable airfare discount levels signed last May.

Under the agreement, discounts for travel agents are limited
to a maximum of seven percent, far less than previous discounts
reaching more than 40 percent. The agreement, signed by Garuda
Indonesia, Merpati Nusantara, Bouraq Indonesia, Mandala Airlines,
Dirgantara Air Service and Sempati Air, was effective as of last
July, while the fines were effective as of November.

Out of the six signatories, only Dirgantara Air Service
honored the agreement.

Soelarto also said yesterday that the association will form a
clearing house this year which will supervise payments for the
endorsable tickets.

The planned clearing house will include a group of banks and
experts on the airline industry, he said without mentioning any
names.

Soelarto also said that about seven million domestic tickets
were sold in 1994. He projected that this year the number will
rise to 10 million.(hdj/icn)