In a couple days, Muslim communities around the globe will celebrate Eid al-Fitr. In Indonesia, it is traditional for people to take a trip back to their hometowns in order to enjoy the holiday with their families. Although this tradition is frequently associated with Eid al-Fitr celebrations, similar phenomena are associated with other religious holidays, including Christmas. Thus this so-called “homecoming” tradition has become an integral part of Indonesian culture for people from all religious backgrounds.
 
With mass movements of people all traveling at the same time, the demands placed upon the country’s transportation systems increase significantly. Travel by air remains one of the most popular travel options, especially for inter-island travel, and its advantages are obvious when compared with land transportation (such as buses and trains) and water transportation (such as ferries). Furthermore, the current competition among the country’s airline companies has resulted in the establishment of several new flight routes, as well as highly competitive flight tariffs, both of which are obviously beneficial to the general public. In 2015, the total number of air passengers in Indonesia amounted to some 3.76 million people.[1] Meanwhile, the total number of train passengers over the same year only reached 1.89 million passengers (no doubt primarily due to the country’s limited rail network).
 
As with all commercial transportation services, commercial flights are bound by a number of rights and obligations, and these apply to both operators and passengers. These rights and obligations stretch from the purchase of a ticket to arrival at one’s chosen destination. Unfortunately, a lack of awareness of these various rights and obligations often leads to disputes cropping up between passengers and airline companies. With this in mind, this week’s edition of Indonesian Law Digest (ILD) will analyze and discuss issues relating to the various items that should be understood by passengers traveling on domestic scheduled flights, and will encompass: