President Joko Widodo won a lot of praise for flying in economy class on a commercial airliner to attend his son’s graduation in Singapore. But he also got some criticism for it, with some people saying he was just doing it for his image and some good PR.
But then Jokowi decided to travel economy class once again, this time for an official state visit to Semarang on Tuesday. This would seem to silence the critics who said Jokowi’s last coach class trip was just a PR stunt – it looks like it’s going to be a regular thing.
And while there’s no doubt it’s good for Jokowi’s image at a time when some people might think he’s insensitive to the poor for cutting the fuel subsidy and raising prices, there’s also no doubt that his choice to fly commercial saves the country a lot of money.
“If the president uses a Garuda aircraft, a one way trip is about Rp 40 million, wheras using the presidential plane to get to one point in Semarang is about Rp 160-170 million,” Andi Widjajanto Cabinet Secretary at the Presidential Office, said on Thursday as quoted by Detik.
“So using a commercial aircraft saves us about Rp 120 million one-way,” Andi said.
The secretary said the efficiency of the budget was important to maximize the state budget for the people. Regarding the remaining funds in the president’s operational budget, Andi said the money could be diverted to help the community.
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