Lion Air

This article is about the Indonesian airline. For other airlines with similar names, see Lionair.

Lion Air
IATA ICAO Call sign
JT LNI LION INTER
Founded15 November 1999; 25 years ago (1999-11-15)
Commenced operations30 June 2000; 24 years ago (2000-06-30)
Operating bases
Fleet size104
Destinations47[1]
Parent companyLion Air Group
HeadquartersLion Air Tower, Jalan KH. Hasyim Ashari, Jakarta, Indonesia
Key people
Websitewww.lionair.co.id

PT Lion Mentari Airlines, operating as Lion Air, is an Indonesian low-cost airline based in Jakarta. Lion Air is the country's largest privately run airline, the second largest low-cost airline in Southeast Asia (after AirAsia) and the largest airline in Indonesia. With Wings Air, Super Air Jet and Batik Air, Lion Group is the country's largest airline's group. The airline operates domestic as well as international routes, which connects different destinations of Indonesia to Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, India, Japan and Saudi Arabia,[2] as well as charter routes to mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Macau, with more than 630 flights per day.[3][4]

The airline has repeatedly broken records for largest aircraft orders, such as its $24 billion order for 234 Airbus A320 jets.[2] The airline's 2011 order of 230 Boeing 737 for $21.7 billion was the largest aircraft order received by Boeing at the time, and the agreement signing was witnessed by President of the United States, Barack Obama.[5]

The airline signed an agreement with US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing for fifty 737 MAX 10 passenger jets worth $6.24 billion in June 2017. The airline is Boeing's second-largest customer (after US-based Southwest Airlines).[6] It had once been criticised for poor operational management in areas such as scheduling and safety, although steps have been taken to improve its safety: on 16 June 2016, the European Union lifted the ban it had placed on Lion Air from flying into European airspace.[7] In June 2018 it attained a positive safety rating following an ICAO audit.[8][9]

  1. ^ "Route map Lion Air". Flight Connections. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference inquirer1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference FI was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Lion Air runs charter flights from Batam to Busan, Incheon". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  5. ^ "Lion Air beli 230 pesawat Boeing 737". BBC News Indonesia (in Indonesian). 18 November 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  6. ^ "Lion Air Places $6.2b Order for 50 Cutting Edge Boeing Passenger Jets". The Jakarta Globe. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  7. ^ "EU Lifts IranAir, Indonesia's Lion Air from Safety Blacklist". BeritaSatu. 16 June 2016. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  8. ^ "Indonesia plane crash: Lion Air was rated seven stars, upgraded to top safety tier in June". The Indian Express. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  9. ^ Thomas, Geoffrey (8 June 2018). "Bali based airlines Garuda Indonesia and Batik Air earn highest safety rating after audit". The Sunday Times (PerthNow). Retrieved 29 October 2018.