Welcome to the globalized world

You will soon be able to get air tickets to Johor Baru from Jakarta for just Rp 99,900. You may have to shell out Rp 149,999 to travel from Bandung to Kuala Lumpur.

Hold your breath. We can fly from Surabaya to Kuala Lumpur for just Rp 299,999! (How come the fares all end with 999? Has a pricing strategist from the Bata Shoe Co. moved into the airline industry?)

It has been reported that Malaysian carrier Air Asia will be offering these fares beginning in April 2004 (The Jakarta Post, March 15). Local airlines are ready to compete with their foreign rivals.

It is simply unbelievable that the fares can be so low. Assuming that these are for one-way tickets, even then I wonder if the Post has misquoted the fares? If an open-sky policy and free and fierce competition can bring about ridiculously low airfares, it is all the better for the common man and no one should object to the era of globalization.

We can be pretty sure that such no-frills airlines will abolish many of the existing requisites of air travel, such as tickets, boarding passes, food and drinks, etc. For one thing, you may not be allowed to carry any baggage -- check-in or hand baggage. There will be no air hostesses to flash their plastic smiles! Obviously, for these fares, the airlines can't be expected to provide seats -- in other words, no seat belts will be required.

For their personal safety, passengers will be cautioned to hug and embrace one another tightly during the flight. Subject to the availability of 100 percent subsidized aviation fuel from the government, the flights may take off! If not, no refunds will be granted.

Hopefully, these budget airlines will have trained pilots on their flights, otherwise, the passengers will end up on "flights into danger"!

D. CHANDRAMOULI Jakarta