TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice President Corporate Secretary of Garuda Indonesia, Ikhsan Rosan, said that the company currently set the price of air cargo at around Rp6,000 per kilogram per flight hour, which was increased from previously Rp3,000-4,000 per kilogram.

“The increase is around Rp2,000-3,000 per kilogram per flight hour,” said Rosan via a phone call with Tempo, Wednesday, February 6.

Rosan explained that the old price could no longer cover the airline’s operational cost. “We have to make an adjustment to cover the current cost,” he added. “However, we have considered the purchasing power of the current market.”

Read: Garuda Indonesia Flight Fares Drops, Jakarta - Aceh Included

Meanwhile, the Express Couriers Association (Asperindo) protested the price hike of air cargo service. Asperindo head Mohammad Feriadi said that airliners had increased its service fee many times.

Garuda Indonesia, for example, had increased the tariff for six times since June 2018; twice in October, once in November, and twice in January 2019 alone. “The total increase is more than 300 percent,” said Feriadi who is JNE Express CEO at the office of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs.

Feriadi mentioned that the price hike of air cargo service would beset consumers using delivery service, while in fact, most of them are the micro, small, medium enterprises.

CAESAR AKBAR