Passengers upset over retroactive hike in airfares

Passengers upset over retroactive hike in airfares

NUSA DUA, Bali (JP): Air passengers at the Soekarno-Hatta
Airport in Jakarta and the Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali were upset
over an unexpected retroactive increase in airfares which became
effective yesterday.

Passengers checking in at the airports were charged additional
fees for their flights even though they had bought tickets on
previous days.

The country's six airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Merpati
Nusantara, Bouraq, Mandala, Sempati and Dirgantara, introduced
yesterday a 10 percent increase in domestic airfares.

However, no announcements were made at the two airports,
making passengers confused and disappointed when they were told
to pay additional fees.

A passenger flying from Jakarta to Bali, Gunawan, told The
Jakarta Post yesterday he bought a round-trip ticket from Jakarta
to Denpasar for Rp 554,200 on Thursday.

"But when I checked in, I was charged an additional fee of Rp
30,800 to meet the new ticket price. There were some windows with
an 'additional payment' board, but I thought they were for over-
weight luggage payments. There were also other counters
designated to serve customers with credit cards," he said.

He said most people had to pay Rp 31,000 since windows did not
provide any coins for change.

Susi, another passenger who flew from Jakarta to Denpasar
yesterday, said that raising the airfares retroactively was
ridiculous.

"There should be official announcements about passenger price
hikes. What if some passengers didn't have enough money but they
had to take the flights," she said.

She said that passengers who had bought tickets before Dec. 12
(when the new airfares were introduced) should not have had to
pay the additional fees.

"It doesn't make sense, charging additional fees for tickets
purchased some time ago."

The Indonesian National Air Carrier Association (INACA) has
been granted the authority by the government to increase airfares
when necessary. The association has been complaining about low
airfares in Indonesia, particularly after the currency turmoil
hit the country last July.

Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto indicated last
week that INACA might increase airfares. "But the airlines must
not burden the public."

INACA's executives were not available for comment yesterday.

INACA also raised airfares between 8 percent and 10 percent on
Oct. 27. It plans a raise of up to 26 percent before the end of
the first quarter of 1998.

The new tariffs announced yesterday increased the average fare
to Rp 315.19 from Rp 286.54 per kilometer for each seat.

Executives of Garuda at the Ngurah Rai Airport and the
airline's office in Bali told the Post that there had not been a
coordinated plan on how to introduce the new airfares.

"We just collected the additional fees," a Garuda's executive
said. (icn)