Air Transportation Directorate General at the Transportation Ministry urged people, who will travel by air transportation, to research and purchase tickets far ahead of the 2022 Christmas and 2023 New Year holiday season.

“This period is a high season since there are the Christmas, New Year, and school holidays,” Air Transportation Acting Director General F. Budi Prayitno noted here on Thursday.

“To this end, we urge the public to plan their flights and purchase airplane tickets,” he remarked.

Due to the increasing demand, the ministry recommended that the public select empty periods, such as during the night or early morning, to purchase more affordable tickets.

The Air Transportation Directorate General continues to conduct intensive monitoring of airports to ensure that air travel fees during the Christmas and New Year holiday period that the airports set met the criteria.

The criteria is that airplane fees cannot exceed the ceiling tariff (TBA) stipulated within the Transportation Minister’s Decision No. KM 106 of 2019.

“Considering that the people’s demand for air transportation during the Christmas-New Year 2022-2023 period tended to increase, we continue to conduct intensive monitoring and ensure that the ticket tariff does not exceed the TBA,” he stated.

The Air Transportation Directorate General, as the regulator, continues to coordinate and communicate with related stakeholders to monitor airports’ compliance with the established ceiling tariff.

“We continue to consistently monitor airports and if there are those who violate them, they will be penalized based on the applicable regulation,” Prayitno emphasized.

The directorate general has coordinated with airports to boost their armada capacity, he noted.

This step is taken in response to the demand that the government has estimated to rise by 53.18 percent, from the last year, which will last until the start of 2023.

By increasing their seating capacity, airports can then meet this high demand.

The directorate general expects that this year’s Christmas and New Year would proceed well and that people can travel safely and comfortably while using air transportation services at their respective destinations.

Source: Antara News