Ministry of Transportation Verifies Flight Ticket Prices for Eid Holiday Travel
Jakarta — The government has confirmed that airline ticket prices circulating during the Eid holiday travel period remain within applicable regulatory limits based on direct monitoring of airlines.
The Ministry of Transportation regulates ticket prices through an upper tariff boundary (TBA) and lower tariff boundary (TBB) scheme, designed to balance affordability for the public with airline operational sustainability. However, this policy has been in place since 2019.
“The current upper tariff boundary was actually established in 2019, when the dollar exchange rate was around 14,000 rupiah and jet fuel prices were around 10,000 rupiah,” said Agustinus Budi Hartono, Director of Air Transportation at the Ministry of Transportation, at a press conference on airline ticket prices on Tuesday, 17 March 2026.
According to him, current economic conditions have changed significantly compared to when the regulations were established.
“Now the dollar exchange rate is nearly 17,000 rupiah and jet fuel prices are around 16,000 rupiah. This means that based on calculations, airline operating costs have changed quite substantially,” he said.
Nevertheless, airlines remain obligated to comply with the government-determined fare boundaries. This means that ticket prices during peak season typically reach the maximum permitted limits. He stressed that whether ticket prices are expensive should be assessed based on whether they exceed the upper tariff boundary set by the government.
“If we say prices are expensive, that would only be the case if they exceed the upper tariff boundary. If they remain within the TBA range, then there is actually no violation by the airline,” he said.
The Ministry of Transportation also conducts routine monitoring of ticket prices directly at airports to ensure airlines do not violate tariff regulations. In monitoring at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the government found no ticket prices exceeding the prescribed limits.
“We conducted monitoring at Soekarno-Hatta Airport and found that all ticket prices remain within limits complying with applicable regulations,” said Agustinus.
The government’s monitored ticket price calculations include several additional components such as taxes and airport fees.
“We calculate it based on the upper tariff boundary plus value-added tax, passenger service charges, mandatory contributions, and fuel surcharges,” he said.
To anticipate a surge in passenger demand during the Eid travel period, the Ministry of Transportation has also opened the possibility for airlines to add additional flights or extra services.
“For the Eid period, we have issued 1,195 additional flights,” said Agustinus.
This policy aims to increase seat capacity on routes with high demand so the public has more flight options.
However, the government cannot force airlines to operate additional flights if they are not considered commercially viable. Airlines typically consider the balance of passenger numbers between outbound and return flights.
“We also cannot compel airlines to operate extra flights if return flight passengers do not materialise or result in empty legs,” he said.