DAVID FULLBROOK / SINGAPORE
Indonesia's Lion Airlines will receive nine leased Fokker 50s to establish a regional feeder network in late October, when services to Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh are due to be rolled out.
The aircraft will be leased from Pembroke Capital and will operate from five bases around Indonesia, which Lion links to Jakarta using Boeing MD-82s, says Lion president Rusdi Kirana.
From Pekanbaru at least two Fokker 50s will fly to Dumai, Malacca (Malaysia), Padang and Singapore. They will also provide services between Medan and Aceh at the northern tip of Sumatra, and Had Yai in southern Thailand.
A Fokker 50 operating from Pontianak will fly to Batam, Kuching (Malaysia) and Singapore, while another will operate from Batam to Jambi and Palembang. Fokker 50 services to Singapore will use Seletar Airport, not the main international gateway at Changi.
In Sulawesi, at least one Fokker 50 will be based in Makassar, from where it will fly to Ternate, and also between Manado, which Lion already flies to from Jakarta, and Goronalo. Another Fokker 50 will operate from Jakarta to Bandung.
Daily Ho Chi Minh City services via Singapore are planned from late October or early November using MD-82s. Jakarta-Singapore services will increase to twice daily. Lion's daily Singapore-Kuala Lumpur service will also be extended to Bangkok three times weekly.
Lion has three MD-82s on lease from General Electric Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), with another two to join this month from CIT and three from GATX. They will be followed by four more from GECAS in October, and Pegasus will deliver two in November.
Source: Flight International
