Lion and Batik sanctioned for overloading flight to Bali

Image: Batik flights to Bali cancelled for two days. Credit: Batikair.

Lion Air Group was sanctioned by the Ministry of Transport yesterday with the suspension of flight permits for their Jakarta-Denpasar route due to violations of the corona virus disease prevention protocol (Covid-19).

As a result, all Batik Air and Lion Air flights on the Jakarta-Denpasar route are now temporarily stopped.

After an investigation, the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) stated that the airline operator violated a regulation from the Indonesia Ministry of Transportation Number PM 18 of 2020 concerning Transportation Control in the Prevention of the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19).

The Batik flight concerned was Batik Air ID-6506 from Soekarno-Hatta – Denpasar, Thursday 15 May 2020 with a scheduled departure of 8am. The plane flew six business class guests and 100 economy class passengers.

On flights during large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), Lion Air Group aircraft can only carry a maximum of 90 passengers.

“Based on investigations conducted by our inspectors, there are violations relating to physical distancing carried out by air transport operators and airport operators,” said Transportation Ministry Spokesman Adita Irawati in a written statement quoted by media on Tuesday (5/19).

According to Irawati, the airline violated the provisions stated in article 14 point B regarding limiting the number of passengers to a maximum of 50% of the total seating capacity in order to implement physical distancing. He said that airlines who were proven to violate the provision were given sanctions in the form of license suspension on those flight routes.

As a result, Batik Air no longer serves flights from Jakarta-Denpasar or vice versa (for what would appear to be just two days. Ed.) Based on the official Batik Air website, the company has tickets available for today and tomorrow but does not have ticket available from 23 to 25 May, 2020. On May 26, 2020 flights appear from both Soekarno-Hatta and Halim Perdanakusuma Airports with prices starting at Rp 1.18 million per seat.