Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation has suspended the ground handling operations of Lion Air and Indonesia AirAsia following two similar immigration lapses.
The ministry’s director general for air transportation, Suprasetyo, said Lion Air’s baggage and ground handling services at Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport and AirAsia’s services at Denpasar, Bali are temporarily suspended for five days while officials complete separate investigations.
In the last week, airport staff from both airlines directed passengers through domestic terminals instead of via international arrivals from two inbound flights from Singapore.
Both carriers must appoint third-party ground handling services for the time being.
"The purpose of the suspensions is to improve air transportation services," Suprasetyo said.
On May 10, Lion Air staff directed 182 passengers from a flight from Singapore to Jakarta Airport’s domestic arrivals area.
On Monday, a similar incident occurred in Bali when 47 AirAsia passengers, who also arrived from Singapore, exited via domestic arrivals.
