The Jakarta Post | Fri, 03/27/2009 8:10 PM
Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal said his ministry was considering proposing a higher tax on aging airplanes than on newer ones.
"Ideally, aging planes should be subject to higher taxes. This is expected to indirectly discourage the use of aging fleets and make airline companies aware of the fact that using old planes is inefficient," the minister said in Jakarta as quoted by Antara newswire on Friday.
The minister made the statement in connection with the frequent occurrence of accidents involving old planes of late.
Last Wednesday, a B737-200 passenger plane of Batavia Air developed a leak in one of its engines forcing it to cancel its take off from Soekartno-Hatta airport.
On March 23, a plane of the same type of Sriwijaya Air made an emergency landing at Hang Nadim Aiport, Batam, after one of its engines failed.
But the minister did not say when the progressive tax on old airplanes would be imposed. "This is an option. We want planes operated in Indonesia to have a maximal age of 21 years," the minister said.
He said it would be better if Indonesia could follow the example of Singapore where every plane which had been in operation for five years was 'put to rest'.
Djamal said that his ministry was encouraging airline companies to merge in an effort to avoid stiff competition among them.
"Ideally, Indonesia should only have seven airline firms with a fleet of 400 airplanes," the minister said.
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