JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - Indonesia’s transport ministry it plans to suspend the in-house ground handling operations of budget carriers Lion Air and Indonesia AirAsia after two separate incident landed in the wrong destination at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, and at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali.
During a media conference on May 18, the ministry’s director general for air transportation, Mr Suprasetyo, said the baggage and ground handling services of Lion Air and AirAsia have been suspended for five days until airport authorities complete their investigations into to the incidents.The suspension means that the two airlines must now appoint third parties to perform their ground handling operations at Soekarno-Hatta and Ngurah Rai airports, the official said. The suspension will apply to Lion Air at Jakarta’s Soekarno–Hatta Airport and to AirAsia at Denpasar Airport, Bali, he said, declining to disclose the duration of the investigation.
Lion Air ground handling staff reportedly took 182 passengers arriving on a flight from Singapore on May 10 to Soekarno-Hatta airport’s domestic arrivals terminal instead of the international arrivals. While on Monday, AirAsia allegedly committed a similar violation by taking 47 passengers, who arrived on a flight from Singapore at around midnight, to Ngurah Rai airport’s domestic arrivals.
Lion Air is Indonesia’s biggest budget carrier, while Indonesia AirAsia is an affiliate of Malaysia AirAsia, Asia’s biggest low-cost carrier. Flight numbers the ministry identified as involving possible passenger handling errors matched those in the media reports.
Lion Air declined to comment on the reports. In a statement, Director Edward Sirait said the airline would continue to operate normally. While AirAsia said will follow the government decision
