Indonesia's PT Lion Air to expand routes to China, Japan, S Korea

PT Lion Air, Indonesia's largest domestic airline in terms of passenger volume, planned to expand its international routes to China, Japan and South Korea next year, the Jakarta Globe reported on Tuesday.

Edward Sirait, Lion Air's General Director, said that the company is looking at launching new flights to China, South Korea and Japan by mid-2010,

"We're currently studying a plan to expand into East Asia carefully," he said. "The plan should be finalized by June or July next year. We would establish several new flights to the region after we get the traffic rights."

Edward said the main target of Lion Air's plan is China, especially China's foreign tourist market. "China's potential is massive because it has one of the fastest rates of economic growth in the world, as well as a huge population," he added.

"We also expect to capture the market for Indonesian migrant workers and fly them to China," Edward said.

He also revealed that the company was considering flights respectively to Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo.

According to analysts, Lion Air's move would challenge its main rival Garuda Indonesia, another large Indonesian airline that has dominance in the lucrative East Asian market.

Source: Xinhua