Lion Air facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Lion Air

Founded	15 November 1999; 25 years ago (1999-11-15)
Commenced operations	30 June 2000; 24 years ago (2000-06-30)
Hubs	Jakarta Makassar Surabaya
Secondary hubs	Manado Medan Yogyakarta–International
Focus cities	Batam Palembang Pekanbaru
Subsidiaries	Batik Air Batik Air Malaysia Thai Lion Air Wings Air Batam Aero Technic Lion Bizjet Lion Parcel Lion Hotel & Plaza
Fleet size	109
Destinations	48
Parent company	Lion Air Group
Headquarters	Lion Air Tower, Jalan KH. Hasyim Ashari, Jakarta, Indonesia
Key people	Rusdi Kirana (Chairman) Edward Sirait (President & CEO) Daniel Putut (MD)

Lion Air is a big Indonesian airline that offers flights at lower prices. It's based in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. Lion Air is the largest airline in Indonesia that is owned by private people. It's also the second largest low-cost airline in Southeast Asia, right after AirAsia.

Together with its sister airlines, Wings Air and Batik Air, the Lion Group is the biggest airline group in Indonesia. Lion Air flies to many places inside Indonesia and also to other countries like Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, India, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. They also have special charter flights to places like Mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Macau. They fly more than 630 times every day!

Lion Air has made some of the biggest airplane orders ever. For example, they ordered 234 Airbus A320 planes, which cost about $24 billion. In 2011, they ordered 230 Boeing 737 planes for $21.7 billion. This was the largest order Boeing had ever received at that time. Even the President of the United States, Barack Obama, was there when the agreement was signed!

In June 2017, Lion Air signed another deal with Boeing for fifty 737 MAX 10 planes, costing $6.24 billion. Lion Air is Boeing's second-biggest customer. The airline has worked hard to improve its safety. In June 2016, the European Union allowed Lion Air to fly into European airspace again, after a previous ban. By June 2018, they received a good safety rating after a check by the ICAO.

History

A Yakovlev Yak-42D, one of Lion Air's early planes, landing in Singapore

A Lion Air McDonnell Douglas MD-82 at Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport

Lion Air was started in October 1999 by two brothers, Rusdi and Kusnan Kirana. They began flying on June 30, 2000. Their first flights were from Jakarta to Denpasar and Pontianak, using a rented Boeing 737-200. It was the very first low-cost airline in Indonesia.

The airline quickly added more planes to its fleet. They used five Yakovlev Yak-42Ds, two McDonnell Douglas MD-82s, and two Airbus A310-300s. Because the airline grew so fast, they were able to get newer planes like the Boeing 737-300 and Boeing 737-400.

In 2003, Lion Air started a new airline called Wings Air. This airline flies to smaller places. Later, they also started other airlines like Malindo Air in Malaysia (2012) and Thai Lion Air in Thailand (2013). In Indonesia, they launched Batik Air in 2013, which is a full-service airline.

Lion Air is working to join the International Air Transport Association (IATA). This would make them the second Indonesian airline to be an IATA member, after Garuda Indonesia. Lion Air and Boeing also worked together to use new navigation methods in Indonesia. They successfully tested these methods at two challenging airports, Ambon and Manado.

In November 2011, Lion Air and Boeing announced a huge order. Lion Air planned to buy 29 more Boeing 737 Next Generation planes and 201 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. This was a record-setting order for 230 planes, worth $21.7 billion at the time.

A Lion Air Boeing 747-400 at Soekarno–Hatta International Airport

On March 18, 2013, Lion Air signed another big contract. They agreed to buy 234 Airbus planes for US$24 billion in France. The French President, François Hollande, was there to see the signing. The planes ordered were A320 and A321 types.

Lion Air also started a full-service airline called Batik Air in 2013. They even considered ordering Airbus A330 wide-body planes but decided to buy Boeing 787 Dreamliners instead.

In June 2016, the Lion Group was removed from a list of airlines that were not allowed to fly into the European Union. This showed their safety improvements.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, Lion Group had to stop flights for a while. They also had to let go of about 2,600 contract workers because fewer people were traveling.

Destinations

As of November 2023, Lion Air flies to 60 different places. This includes 39 cities within Indonesia and 19 cities in other countries.

Fleet (Planes Lion Air Uses)

A Lion Air Boeing 737-900ER at Changi Airport

A Lion Air Boeing 737-900ER with a special paint job, also at Changi Airport

A Lion Air Airbus A330-300 at Ngurah Rai Airport

As of May 2024, Lion Air uses these types of planes:

How the Fleet Grew

Lion Air was the first airline to use the 737-900ER. This picture shows its first flight.

Lion Air was the first airline to order and use the largest version of the Boeing 737, called the 737-900ER. They placed this order in 2005. At the Paris Air Show in 2005, Lion Air signed a deal with Boeing to buy up to 60 of these planes. The 737-900ER can carry up to 215 passengers. On April 27, 2007, Boeing delivered the very first 737-900ER to Lion Air. This plane had a special paint job, showing both Lion Air's logo and Boeing's "Dreamliner" design.

Lion Air made history again when it ordered 230 planes from Boeing. This was the biggest order ever for a commercial airline at the time. In November 2011, Lion Air and Boeing announced that the airline planned to buy 29 more Boeing 737 Next Generation and 201 Boeing 737 MAX planes. This huge order was worth $21.7 billion. A final agreement was signed on February 14, 2012. The 737 MAX planes were identified as 737 MAX 9s, making Lion Air the first airline to order this specific type.

On March 18, 2013, Lion Air placed another massive order. They ordered 234 A320 jets from Airbus. This was the largest single order Airbus had ever received. The deal was worth €18.4 billion ($24 billion).

In April 2018, Lion Air Group ordered fifty Boeing 737 MAX 10 jets. These planes were valued at $6.24 billion.

However, after some serious events in late 2018 and early 2019, Lion Air announced that they might cancel their Boeing orders. This led to all 737 MAX aircraft around the world being temporarily stopped from flying. Lion Air then started looking at options from Airbus.

On July 19, 2019, Lion Air received its first Airbus A330-900 plane. They were the first airline in Asia/Pacific to operate this type of aircraft.

Planes Lion Air Used to Have

An Airbus A310 that used to belong to Lion Air, now in the Mojave Desert, California

Market Share (How Popular Lion Air Is)

Aviation market share in Indonesia (2015)      Lion Air (41.6%)     Garuda Indonesia (23.5%)     Sriwijaya Air (10.4%)     Citilink (8.9%)     Wings Air (4.7%)     Indonesia AirAsia (4.4%)     Others (6.5%)

In the 2000s, Lion Air started to grow a lot. It became a big competitor to Garuda Indonesia, which is Indonesia's national airline, for flights within the country. By mid-2015, Lion Air was the leader in Indonesia's domestic air travel market, holding 41.6% of the share. Garuda Indonesia was second with 23.5%.

When you look at all the airlines in Indonesia, two main groups control most of the domestic flights: Lion Air Group and Garuda Indonesia. By mid-2015, Lion Air Group had 43.17% of the market, and Garuda Indonesia had 37.08%.

From 2005 to 2017, the Lion Air Group's share of domestic flights more than doubled! It went from 25% to 51%. Garuda Indonesia's share also grew from 24% to 33%. For international flights in 2017, Lion Air Group had 21% of the market.

See also

In Spanish: Lion Air para niños

• Aviation in Indonesia
• Lion Air Group
• Batik Air Malaysia
• Wings Air
• Batik Air
• Thai Lion Air
• List of airlines of Indonesia