Vacation time: A Garuda aircraft is seen on the tarmac of an airport. The airfare reduction applies to economy class domestic flights for travel between Dec 22 and Jan 10, 2026. — Reuters
JAKARTA: The government has announced that airfares would be cut by 13% to 14% for the year-end holiday period to help sustain household spending.
The price reduction applies to economy class domestic flights for travel between Dec 22 and Jan 10, 2026, with the discounted tickets available for booking from Oct 22 to Jan 10, 2026.
The Transportation Ministry said in a statement published on Tuesday that the initiative was taken as part of President Prabowo Subianto’s directives on strategic steps to strengthen the nation’s economic growth in the second half of this year.
Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said the move aimed to maintain interregional connectivity and improve public mobility at affordable costs.
“We want to ensure that all people can enjoy air transportation, especially during the Christmas 2025 and New Year 2026 (period),” he said as quoted in the same statement.
The airfares’ cut is backed by policies from multiple ministries, including the Transportation Ministerial Decree No. 50/2025 stipulating a reduced fuel surcharge for economy class domestic flights during the year-end holidays.
Additionally, Finance Ministry Regulation (PMK) No. 71/2025 reduces the value-added tax (VAT) for domestic scheduled flights in economy class during the same period, while a decree from the Air Transportation Directorate General cuts non-tax state revenue fees for airport service units under the directorate by 50%.
VAT is cut for consumers by six percentage points, while the fuel surcharge for jet planes is reduced by 2% and for propeller planes by 20% and passenger fees and airport handling fees are both cut by 50%.
The price of aviation turbine fuel will also be reduced at 37 airports, and operating hours will be extended to accommodate the projected increase in demand.
The announcement on the airfares discount follows the economic unveiling of a wider stimulus package in September, which includes travel and retail incentives for the year-end holiday season.
The stimulus package is the fourth this year, with most of the measures focused on propping up consumer spending, a key pillar of Indonesia’s economy.
The same 13% to 14% cut to airfares was implemented during the Idul Fitri travel period from March to April and again during the summer school break.
A 10% reduction was decided for the 2024 year-end holiday season.
The country has long sought to address mounting cost pressures resulting in overall high airline ticket prices.
To reduce airfares, the government has formed a task force involving officials from relevant institutions, including the Office of the Coordinating Economy Minister.
Several options have been explored to tackle high airfares, such as optimising aircraft operational costs, lifting certain import restrictions, recalculating tariff formulas and introducing tax waivers.
In May, the Transportation Ministry evaluated airline ticket prices and noted that several key factors contributed to the rising costs, including higher rising expenses to reactivate aircraft grounded during the Covid-19 pandemic, disruptions in the global spare parts ecosystem and depreciation of aircraft leasing costs due to new accounting standards.
Given these considerations, the ministry’s civil aviation director Lukman F. Laisa, proposed several changes in the airline ticket pricing regulation, such as revising upper and lower fare limits “to avoid predatory pricing”, adding that it would also protect the public from wide gaps between low-season and high-season tickets. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
