The slow recovery of the tourism sector from the pandemic-caused slowdown has been blamed in part by the government on expensive airfares.

The idea is that since tickets are still relatively pricey more than six months after the Supreme Court affirmed an antitrust case against seven domestic carriers, prospective passengers may be reluctant to board airplanes.

Sandiaga Uno, minister of tourism and creative industries, noted that one of the issues impeding the tourist revival, particularly in the domestic setting, was the need to adhere to and respect the legal procedure.

"Collusion or cartel tactics must be avoided. We must help the KPPU stop these types of behaviors. Sandiaga, speaking at his ministry's weekly press conference on Monday, referred to the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) and said, "There must never be unhealthy practices in determining airfares.

He continued, "We want flights to be competitively priced."

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the antitrust agency last December, ending a lengthy legal battle between the KPPU and airlines. However, experts say the decision has had little to no effect.

Suspicion of ticket price fixing involving Garuda Indonesia, Citilink, Sriwijaya Air, NAM Air, Batik Air, Lion Air, and Wings Air in 2019 formed the basis of the lawsuit.

When prices rose throughout the year's high seasons, long weekends, and religious holidays, the antitrust agency suspected fraud. After conducting an inquiry, it found that the airlines had broken Law No. 5/1999 on fair competition and pronounced them guilty in June 2020.

Additionally, for the following two years, it required the carriers to submit written reports to the KPPU before making any decisions that may affect market competition and ticket prices.

The KPPU decision was overturned by the Central Jakarta District Court in September 2020 after the accused filed an appeal. After the agency took the case to the Supreme Court, the KPPU decision was reinstated in December 2022.

The commercial aviation market's oligopolistic structure was one of many factors the Supreme Court considered while making its ruling, and it concluded that the price increase was the result of agreement rather than the airlines' independent reactions to operational costs.

The court came to that judgment after discovering that, while ticket prices from other airlines had decreased, airfares from the accused airlines had stayed high long after fuel prices dropped and peak travel times were over.

Batik Air, Lion Air, and Garuda Indonesia were not immediately available for comment.

The Air Transportation Directorate General of the Ministry of Transportation asked airlines to follow current laws when determining fares.

with the seven airlines, and all of them respect the KPPU's decision and will abide by it," said Maria Kristi Endah Murni, director general of air transportation, to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Denon Prawiraatmadja, chairman of the Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INACA), stated to The Washington Post on Monday that "we recommend our members to be cooperative when the KPPU conducts a review."

Eight months after the Supreme Court decision, aviation expert Gerry Soejatman predicted that it would "have little to no impact" on the domestic airline market because the range in which tickets could be set was already constrained by government-imposed price floors and ceilings.

Additionally, although being correct, he told the Post that the decision was essentially immaterial in the current market because airlines were still attempting to regain their pre- pandemic capacity and financial stability by taking advantage of the "unprecedented demand" windfall.

Alvin Lie, another aviation expert, claimed that the government-imposed price range was to blame for the 2019 price spike because ticket prices would always fall inside that "corridor".

Where do you perceive illegal practices and signs of a cartel as long as prices do not exceed the price floor and ceiling. The government controls the range of ticket prices, according to Alvin, who was quoted by Kompas daily on Wednesday.