Lion Air to lease Halim Perdanakusuma airport<\/p>\n
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Domestic budget carrier PT Lion Mentari Airlines (Lion Air) has
\nsigned a contract to lease little-used Halim Perdanakusuma
\nairport in East Jakarta to accommodate its growing fleet.<\/p>\n
Lion Air spokesman Hasyim Arsal Alhabsi said on Sunday that
\nthe company would start rebuilding a terminal and constructing
\nadditional facilities, such as a mall, before the end of the
\nyear.<\/p>\n
\"The airport will start operations (for Lion Air) hopefully by
\nthe end of next year,\" said Hasyim.<\/p>\n
The lease for the airport, used mainly for visiting statesmen,
\ntop government officials and the Indonesian Air Force, is valid
\nfor 25 years.<\/p>\n
Hasyim said the contract involved three parties: Lion Air, the
\nAir Force, and state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura.<\/p>\n
\"The airport will still be used for state and Air Force
\npurposes. There will be further discussions on the arrangement,\"
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
He declined to disclose the value of the lease and investment
\nneeded to construct the new facilities and refurbish the airport.<\/p>\n
Lion Air's decision to lease Halim airport came after its
\nefforts to build a terminal at Soekarno-Hatta International
\nAirport fell through.<\/p>\n
\"We haven't decided yet whether to use only Halim ... or also
\nSoekarno-Hatta,\" said Hasyim. \"Other airlines will also be able
\nto use Halim Perdanakusuma (after the refurbishment is
\nfinished).\"<\/p>\n
Established in 2000, Lion Air is one of the pioneer budget
\nairlines in the country, providing cheap air fares to boost the
\nnumber of air passengers in an industry long-dominated by
\nexpensive and inefficient state-owned carriers.<\/p>\n
It is now the third largest airline in terms of fleet size
\nafter national flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia Airlines and state-
\nowned Merpati Airlines.<\/p>\n
At present, the budget carrier has a fleet of 23 aircraft,
\nsaid Hasyim.<\/p>\n
In October, Lion announced it had purchased or leased another
\n15 aircraft, which are expected to be delivered by June 2005.
\nFive of the new planes are MD-90s with a capacity of 170
\npassengers, while the remainder are Boeing 737-400s with a
\ncapacity of 158 passengers.<\/p>\n
\"We plan to expand our fleet to 50 aircraft by the end of
\n2005,\" said Hasyim.<\/p>\n
Lion Air is also expanding its flights to new destinations,
\nboth domestically and internationally. By December, it plans to
\nincorporate flights to Semarang, Jambi, Bangka, Belitung,
\nGorontalo, several cities in Papua and others in eastern
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
New regional destinations include South Korea, India, Hong
\nKong, Guangzhou in China and Australia.<\/p>\n
According to its data, the airline has been averaging some
\n500,000 passengers per month this year with a load factor of
\nbetween 91 and 96 percent, up from 300,000 to 400,000 passengers
\nper month in 2003.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lion-air-to-lease-halim-perdanakusuma-airport-1447893297",
"image": ""
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