Govt to restrict air ticket sales
JAKARTA (JP): The government plans to stop travel agents selling airline tickets to avoid price manipulation, a senior official said yesterday.
The Director General of Air Transportation, Zainuddin Sikado, said travel agents running tour packages and selling airline tickets, should handle only tours.
"In Indonesia, travel agents are often more powerful than domestic airlines. They can order as many tickets as they want," he said after attending a signing ceremony between national carrier Garuda Indonesia and privately-owned Sempati Air.
He said this enabled travel agents to manipulate air ticket prices.
"It is therefore important to separate travel agents' tour packaging and ticketing services," he said.
It's common for a travel agent to buy up to 30 seats on a plane. The tickets are sometimes sold at unofficial prices which affects the airline industry.
Sikado said the government had proposed the House of Representatives change travel agents' business orientations.
Travel agents' operations are overseen by the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications, while aviation affairs is the Ministry of Transportation's responsibility.
Sikado said his office had no right to penalize travel agents for manipulating air ticket prices.
He said ticket sales should be handled by different companies like ticket sale agents whose activities should be overseen by his office.
In a related development, Sikado said the government would not permit postal service firms to operate their own planes.
"This is a matter of cooperation, why don't postal and mailing service companies cooperate with airlines?" he asked
He said domestic airlines would be hampered if postal and mailing service firms operated their own planes.
In cooperation with a private firm, the state-owned PT Pos Indonesia plans to set up a subsidiary which will operate its own planes, mostly serving remote areas. The plan, initiated couple years ago, has never been realized.
Garuda and Sempati have agreed to cooperate in marketing, cargo services, passenger services and maintenance.
The agreement was signed by Garuda's president, Soepandi, and Sempati's president, Santun Nainggolan.
Soepandi said Sempati could also benefit from Garuda's international network including its alliance with foreign airlines.
Garuda, which operates 60 jets, has set up alliances with the Netherlands' KLM and the United States' Northwest. Garuda flies to 20 destinations in Indonesia and 36 cities overseas.
Sempati which runs 23 aircraft serves 26 domestic destinations and five overseas cities. (icn)