

Agreed. The salary increase, all else staying the same, is a good thing.
If anything, I’m disturbed by the previous government that actually reduced the salary. You can only do that if you can afford to do it. Meaning that they are almost certainly getting more money out of the government through other, corrupt, avenues.
This is not a defense or attack on any particular politician. But you need to pay politicians a competitive salary or corruption is completely inevitable.
OP is talking about booking flights where you can choose between nonstop or layovers. If it’s not possible to get a nonstop, then it’s just as bad for comparison as if it’s not possible to get a layover.