Lion Air to lease Halim Perdanakusuma airport
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Domestic budget carrier PT Lion Mentari Airlines (Lion Air) has signed a contract to lease little-used Halim Perdanakusuma airport in East Jakarta to accommodate its growing fleet.
Lion Air spokesman Hasyim Arsal Alhabsi said on Sunday that the company would start rebuilding a terminal and constructing additional facilities, such as a mall, before the end of the year.
"The airport will start operations (for Lion Air) hopefully by the end of next year," said Hasyim.
The lease for the airport, used mainly for visiting statesmen, top government officials and the Indonesian Air Force, is valid for 25 years.
Hasyim said the contract involved three parties: Lion Air, the Air Force, and state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura.
"The airport will still be used for state and Air Force purposes. There will be further discussions on the arrangement," he added.
He declined to disclose the value of the lease and investment needed to construct the new facilities and refurbish the airport.
Lion Air's decision to lease Halim airport came after its efforts to build a terminal at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport fell through.
"We haven't decided yet whether to use only Halim ... or also Soekarno-Hatta," said Hasyim. "Other airlines will also be able to use Halim Perdanakusuma (after the refurbishment is finished)."
Established in 2000, Lion Air is one of the pioneer budget airlines in the country, providing cheap air fares to boost the number of air passengers in an industry long-dominated by expensive and inefficient state-owned carriers.
It is now the third largest airline in terms of fleet size after national flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia Airlines and state- owned Merpati Airlines.
At present, the budget carrier has a fleet of 23 aircraft, said Hasyim.
In October, Lion announced it had purchased or leased another 15 aircraft, which are expected to be delivered by June 2005. Five of the new planes are MD-90s with a capacity of 170 passengers, while the remainder are Boeing 737-400s with a capacity of 158 passengers.
"We plan to expand our fleet to 50 aircraft by the end of 2005," said Hasyim.
Lion Air is also expanding its flights to new destinations, both domestically and internationally. By December, it plans to incorporate flights to Semarang, Jambi, Bangka, Belitung, Gorontalo, several cities in Papua and others in eastern Indonesia.
New regional destinations include South Korea, India, Hong Kong, Guangzhou in China and Australia.
According to its data, the airline has been averaging some 500,000 passengers per month this year with a load factor of between 91 and 96 percent, up from 300,000 to 400,000 passengers per month in 2003.