THE INDONESIAN trade is seeing few impacts on air travel following AirAsia Indonesia’s accident, compared with incidents involving other domestic carriers with a less spotless safety record.
Anton Thedy, managing director, TX Travel Indonesia, said: “There were fewer than 10 cancellations on AirAsia Indonesia the first few days following the accident…what might be impacting air travel is the government’s new regulation on lowest fare.”
Excluding Garuda Indonesia and AirAsia, other Indonesian carriers have been on the EU blacklist.
Ng Sebastian, managing director, Incite Travel Makassar, said: “Lion Air has many flights connecting Makassar and other areas in Indonesia, and they continue to be full. Travellers have not stopped going to remote destinations on Indonesian airlines.”
Longhaul travellers have not lost interest too, said Herman Rukmanadi, managing director, Bhara Tours Bandung. “We have secured a new partnership with many (European) tour series for this year – the only condition is to only use Garuda for the domestic connections.
Meanwhile it is estimated Malaysia lost 540,000 Chinese tourists last year due to the disappearance of MH370 and Sabah’s kidnapping cases.
Mint Leong, managing director, Sunflower Holidays, said Chinese travellers are opting instead to fly to Malaysia on Cathay Pacific, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines.
Adam Kamal, CEO, Rakyat Travel, said: “Passengers are concerned also about the validity of their travel insurance coverage.”
Additional reporting from S Puvaneswary.
