Transport Minister Takao Fujii said Tuesday that he has ordered ministry officials to consider abolishing a half-century-old practice under which Civil Aviation Bureau officials get free rides on Japanese airline firms for business trips.

"I have issued strict instructions to reduce them (the tickets) with the aim of ultimately abolishing them," Fujii told a news conference. "This is an internationally accepted practice. But we must avoid situations where misunderstanding may arise," Fujii said.

He declined to say when the ministry will actually abandon the practice, adding that immediately abolishing it would be difficult because the ministry needs to budget for an increase in travel expenses.

In fiscal 1996, the ministry used free tickets on 177 occasions for trips abroad and on 3,101 occasions for domestic travel, worth an estimated total of 220 million yen, ministry officials said. Fujii said, however, "We need to give consideration to the recent severe business environment surrounding airlines."

Under the "government order" practice, Civil Aviation Bureau officials receive free tickets from airlines for civil aviation-related business trips, including civil aviation talks abroad and aircraft safety checks. Fujii's instruction comes amid growing public criticism of the collusive relations between bureaucrats and industry, following the arrest last month of two Finance Ministry inspectors for allegedly accepting bribes from banks.