Airline News
Lion Air receives A330, eyes China
November 6th 2015
Indonesia’s Lion Air plans to launch operations to China next year, particularly to Guangzhou and Shanghai, targeting a fast-growing market where business could make up to 5%-7% of its total revenue, Lion Group director, Edward Sirait, said on the sidelines of a ceremony to mark the delivery of its first high-density 440-seat, Rolls-Royce Trent 700-powered A330-300. Read More »
"One of the biggest countries for outgoing tourism is China. If we can get the route permits, 10 planes are not enough to serve those cities," Sirait said. Lion Air boss, Rudy Lumingkewas, added the carrier expected to take delivery of two more A330-300s by year-end, which it planned to use on high-density trunk routes, such as Jakarta-Surabaya, Medan and Denpasar, as well as to China, and on hajj flights to Saudi Arabia, replacing its remaining two B747-400s.
Lion Air still has 225 outstanding orders, including 223 A320 Family aircraft and the two A330s.Privately held Lion Air, co-founded by Indonesian tycoon, Rusdi Kirana, derives the majority of its revenue from domestic and regional flights and competes with carriers such as AirAsia and Garuda Indonesia.
Lion Air had previously planned an initial public offering (IPO) to raise approximately ten trillion rupiah ($732 million) in first-quarter 2016, but Kirana said in June a listing would likely to be delayed due to weak market conditions. The group was still reviewing its IPO plans and did not have a new timeline yet, Sirait said on Monday. "We are not convinced that if we sell our shares, they can be immediately absorbed by the market right now."
At Garuda Indonesia, the flag carrier this week signed a Memorandum of Understanding with domestic carrier, Pelita Air Service, to serve new routes from the latter’s bases across Indonesia, including Pondok Cabe airfield on the southern outskirts of Jakarta. “In line with our fleet expansion plan, the partnership with Pelita Air will hopefully boost our route development efforts for propeller aircraft, as well as maximizing Pondok Cabe’s operational base for shorter routes within the Jakarta region with less than two hours of flying time,” said Iwan Joeniarto, technical and information technology director at Garuda.
