Minister: Aviation Turbine Fuel Imports Remain High, Middle East Conflicts Could Affect Indonesia's Aviation

Indonesia’s dependence on aviation turbine fuel imports remains very high, making the sector vulnerable to global geopolitics, particularly the conflicts in the Middle East. Aviation turbine fuel is one of the largest cost components in the Indonesian aviation industry, and the sector is highly sensitive to fluctuations in energy prices on the world market. Fuel costs constitute a large portion of airlines’ operating costs, amounting to around 27.6 percent of total operating costs. ‘From the cost components, avtur accounts for about 27.6 percent,’ he noted. ‘So it is quite high and very volatile, heavily dependent on global conditions.’ In addition to aviation turbine fuel, maintenance costs are another major component of the industry, at around 20 percent of total costs. Most of our spare parts are still imported, so we are greatly affected by external conditions, he explained. Therefore, he views the current global crisis as an important lesson for Indonesia to strengthen energy resilience and increase self-reliance in supplying strategic needs, including aviation fuel. ‘What we are thinking for the future is not only to seek cheap tickets, but how we can provide our own energy needs so as not to rely too much on external parties,’ he said. ‘The conflicts abroad significantly affect us. This teaches us that we must have resilience, including energy resilience.’