The Lion Air Group will significantly increase its fleet size this year as it plans to open several new routes in South Asia. The group has orders of the latest generation narrowbody planes from both Airbus and Boeing as it looks to scale up operations after the pandemic.
New planes in 2023
Lion Air Group added more than 40 airplanes in 2022, but at a conference in Jakarta on December 28th, a senior executive from the Lion Air Group, Daniel Putut Kuncoro Adi, said that those planes comprised just half of what the group needs. The airline group is expecting to expand operations in South Asia, namely countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
Per ch-aviation, the group’s airlines, which include Lion Air, Wings Air (Indonesia), Super Air Jet, Batik Air, Batik Air Malaysia, and Thai Lion Air, collectively operate 317 airplanes. Most of these aircraft are based in Indonesia, with Lion Air accounting for more than 110 planes.
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Apart from the planned new routes in South Asia, the group will also increase frequencies to high-demand destinations such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang. Investor.id recently quoted Kuncoro Adi as saying,
“We are adding several routes, especially to South Asia. We are still in talks with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, and Pakistan. We have explored them. Hopefully, in 2023, additional international routes will be implemented.”
Committed to 737 MAX
The latest data from ch-aviation reveals that Lion Air Indonesia has more than 110 A320neos and A321neos on order from Airbus. But it will also receive 230 737 MAX airplanes from Boeing.
A major trend in Indonesian aviation is the rise of low-cost carriers, and Lion Air is at the forefront of the change, commanding a sizable portion of the market. For a bulk of its short-haul operations, Lion Air depends on the Boeing 737 aircraft series.
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Sadly, Lion Air was also one of the two carriers involved in the fatal Boeing 737 MAX planes a few years ago. But with the type undergoing software adjustments and receiving safety certification from independent aviation authorities the world over, Lion Air is willing to give the plane another chance. In July 2022, the airline confirmed that the 737 MAX is still central to the group’s plan and that it stands by the type’s order.
Terminal change
Ahead of its 2023 expansion plan, Lion Air Group’s international flights also moved to Terminal 2F at Jakarta’s Soekarno–Hatta International Airport on December 16th.
Lion Air and Batik Air collectively enjoy more than 40% seat capacity and flight frequencies out of Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta, most of them on their domestic network. The recent terminal switch of the group’s international operations was part of a capacity balancing program at the airport.
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Source: ch-aviation
