Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE
After over a decade of stagnation, the Indonesian airline industry is seeing a flurry of start-up carriers getting their operations under way.
The latest of these is Lion Airlines, also known as Lion Mentari Airlines, which started operating on 30 June, a week after the launch of Awair International.
Lion is initially operating a wet-leased Boeing 737-200 from Jakarta to Pontianak. According to president director Rusdi Kilana, three more 737s will be acquired over the next three months.
The airline plans to extend its route network from Jakarta to encompass Palembang, Medan and Ujung Pandang. Kilana says he also plans to introduce regional services from Indonesia to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as early as August.
"We are trying to build to be a feeder for the big airlines in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur," says Kilana. The airline was recently awarded its air operator's certificate, allowing the carrier to operate up to 48 routes, although Kilana says he only has immediate plans for eight.
Meanwhile, Awair became the first new Indonesian carrier in over 10 years when it began operating twice-daily frequencies between Jakarta and Surabaya in June using leased Airbus A310s and also covers Medan, Balikpapan and Denpasar in its network.
Five other Indonesian carriers hope to launch services this year, primarily on domestic routes. These include Indonesian Airlines, Pelita Air Service, Bayu Indonesia Air, Rusmindo Internusa Air and Jatayu Air.
The former carrier aims to expand to a fleet of ten 737-200s within a year of starting services, but has repeatedly delayed its launch. It hopes to begin in August.
Lion's Kilana says that despite the country's depressed economy, he believes the size of the Indonesian market is large enough to support all the start-ups.
Source: Flight International
