ID Needed for Boarding Aircraft: Indonesia
Interesting article in yesterday’s Jakarta Post regarding the upcoming enforcement of having ID when you check-in for your flight. Those folk travelling international into and out of Indonesia have their passports as ID. But, what of those foreign travellers flying domestically?.
It’s okay for Indonesians because they have their KTP (identity card) but for foreign travellers it is going to be a hassle producing your passport at the check-in at the domestic airports. Okay, so it’s going to be an inconvenience, but, it still stinks!.
Primarily, the introduction of the nearly 20-year-old regulation is for security reasons. Here’s the article:
Make sure your ID is ready before you fly
Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government says it will begin enforcing a nearly 20-year-old regulation requiring airplane passengers to show an ID during check-in at airline counters.
“Airlines must implement the policy, stipulated in a 1989 Transportation Ministry decree, by March 31 or face sanctions,”
Air Transportation Director General M. Ikhsan Tatang said Saturday during a discussion at the ministry.
“The decree is aimed at avoiding deviations between the manifest and the actual passengers aboard an airplane.”
Ikhsan said the regulation was meant to improve security and facilitate the insurance claims process in the event of an accident, by ensuring the names printed on tickets matched those on ID cards.
He said a public awareness campaign was needed to ensure public participation in showing IDs at check-in counters, as regulators did not have authority over passengers.
However, the ministry can punish airlines that fail to ensure compliance with the regulation.
“The ministry could impose various sanctions, from issuing warnings to revoking operational licenses,” said Ikhsan.
Some passengers have refused to cooperate with the regulation, and there is an impression some people feel it insulting to have to produce an ID card at the check-in counter.
“For example, many state officials have refused to show their IDs as they think they deserve special treatment,” the secretary-general of the National Air Carriers Association, Tengku Burhanuddin, told The Jakarta Post.
“Officials should set a good example for the public,” he added.
A senior executive at the Indonesian Consumers Foundation, Indah Suksmaningsih, said airlines had to take the lead in enforcing the regulation.
“Passengers will obey the rule if it is strictly enforced. Just don’t let people board the aircraft without showing their IDs,” Indah told the Post.