Lion Air will not be able to operate its ground handling services at Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta, and AirAsia Indonesia at Ngurah Rai airport in Bali.

Indonesia’s Transport Ministry has frozen the ground handling services of two airlines for dropping their international flight passengers at the domestic terminal.

Lion Air will not be able to operate its ground handling services at Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta, and AirAsia Indonesia at Ngurah Rai airport in Bali.

“The sanctions are issued so that all parties will be more careful when it comes to the safety of passengers,” said Suprasetyo, Director-General of Air Transportation at the Transport Ministry in a press conference on Wednesday (May 18).

The suspensions on ground handling services, which were issued on Tuesday, do not affect the airlines’ flight schedules. Lion Air and AirAsia have been given five days to find an operator for their ground handling services.

On Monday, 47 passengers traveling on AirAsia flight QZ509 from Singapore to Bali wrongly exited the airport via the domestic terminal. This was the second time in a week that international passengers to Indonesia were wrongly dropped at the domestic terminal.

Last Tuesday, passengers on Lion Air flight JT161 from Singapore to Jakarta exited the Soekarno-Hatta airport via the domestic terminal without going through immigration.

As a result of both incidents, a number of international passengers did not get their passports stamped at immigration. Airline and airport authorities then managed to recall the passengers, and all AirAsia passengers subsequently went through the immigration process.

However, one Hungarian passenger from the Lion Air flight still has not reported to immigration authorities.