Indonesia continues bans of foreign budget airlines

Indonesia has decided to continue its ban on foreign budget airlines in order to the national carrier, Garuda Indonesia. Garuda serves a wide selection of International destinations including London, but its the short range market it the government is trying to protect.

When I fly to Singapore, Garuda is alway the cheapest choice. Singapore has its own national carrier, Singapore Airlines, which is $100 more expense for the same trip. Singapore also has budget airlines including Valuair, which would love to get into that market.
The pressure is on Garuda for sure, and it might end up being partially owned by another airline. Merpati, one of the domestic airlines here has just gone belly-up. The airline business is high stakes gambling. Garuda is planning to ask Malaysian Airlines to cease their flights to Jakarta, due to economic reasons.