Ministry Bans Sale of Plane Tickets at Airports

Jakarta Globe, Feb 02, 2015

Passengers check in for an AirAsia flight at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International
Airport, in this Dec. 28, 2014, file photo. (Reuters Photo/Pius Erlangga)

Jakarta. In a move aimed at improving the public service, the Transportation Ministry will ban the sale of flight tickets at airports throughout the country.

“There will be no more ticket counters at [Soekarno-Hatta International Airport's] terminal 1, 2 and 3 [from Feb. 15],” Yudis Tiawan, a spokesman for state-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura II, was quoted as saying by Tempo.co on Monday.

Yudis explained that the move was aimed primarily at ending the widespread practice of ticket buying through middlemen (calo) at the airport.

The ticket counters operating at Soekarno-Hatta are mostly selling tickets for domestic destinations. People will now have to obtain their tickets before heading to the airport.

Yudis said all airlines selling tickets at airport counters have been notified of the rule change, which is based on a regulation issued by the Transportation Ministry on Dec. 31, 2014.

The regulation also stipulates that unregistered taxis are not allowed to operate at the nation’s airports and that smoking is banned in all airside areas (apron, runway, taxiway) and places that have direct access to these areas.

“This instruction applies for all airports in Indonesia and is meant to improve the public service,” Yudis said.