Indonesia’s Largest Low-Cost Carrier: The Lion Air Fleet In 2021

As a group of airlines, the Lion Air Group is massive. The firm oversees six airline brands across Southeast Asia, including Batik Air, Wings Air, and more. Lion Air Group’s largest airline, and the air operator in Indonesia, is the carrier that bears the same name as its parent company, which is, of course, Lion Air. As the end of 2021 is fast approaching, let’s take a look at Lion Air’s fleet in its current state.

While lost-cost airlines are mostly associated with Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s, budget operator Lion Air operates the Airbus A330 as part of its services. Photo: Getty Images

The Lion Air fleet at a glance

Let’s first take a look at the composition of the airline’s fleet as a whole. We should note that this article only applies to Indonesia’s Lion Air, as there are additional jets with fellow subsidiary, Thai Lion Air.

The aircraft types are listed below with quantities in parentheses, along with average ages:

• Airbus A330-300 (3): 6.1 years
• Airbus A330-900 (6): 2.0 years
• Boeing 737-800 (39): 7.6 years
• Boeing 737-900ER (66): 10.3 years
• Boeing 737 MAX 8* (8): 4.4 years

*All eight MAX aircraft remain parked and inactive.

As you can see from the fleet breakdown, the airline neatly divides its aircraft into two basic types: Airbus A330s for its widebody fleet, and Boeing 737s for its narrowbody operations. While there is some diversity in terms of variants, Lion Air doesn’t stray too far from the low-cost operating model of having a single-type fleet to reduce costs.

Lion Air has chosen the Boeing 737 as its narrowbody workhorse. The airline’s oldest 737s joined the fleet in 2007. Photo: Getty Images

A widebody budget airline

Only a handful of low-cost carriers in the world have dared to introduce widebody aircraft into their fleets. Indeed, if we look at the major budget airlines around the world today, the majority have chosen to go with all-737 or all-A320 fleets. Of course, neighboring AirAsia X is one big exception to this way of operating.

Now-defunct Icelandic LCC, WOW Air, was one carrier that introduced the Airbus A330 into its mainly A320 fleet. While a number of factors contributed to the airline’s downfall, its expansion into widebody operations may have stretched it too thin.

Indian budget airline SpiceJet might also have its turn at operating long-haul or high-capacity budget flights. The carrier will eventually have two Boeing 777-200ERs , which could possibly be put to use on service to North America.

In the case of Lion Air, the carrier has made good use of the widebodies with Indonesia’s high volume domestic and regional air travel market. Indeed, a great deal of traffic is seen on routes such as Jakarta-Denpasar as well as Jakarta-Makasar. The airline previously operated Boeing 747s, a testament to the high volume of passengers it handles across its network.

Some of the airline’s newest jets, Lion Air has six Airbus A330neos. Photo: Getty Images

The Lion Air elephant in the room

Of course, beyond its status as Indonesia’s largest low-cost operator, Lion Air is also associated with the Boeing 737 MAX. The airline was the first to suffer tragedy as a result of the issues experienced with the aircraft and its MCAS feature.

The Boeing 737 MAX is still unable to fly in Indonesia. Photo: Lion Air Group

Thus, while the Boeing 737 MAX has been recertified in many aviation markets around the world, including the US, UK, European Union, India, and more, Indonesia has yet to allow the type to fly in its skies again. This means that for the time being, Lion Air’s 737 MAX aircraft will remain on the ground and inactive, while the airline’s older generation 737s pick up the slack.

Have you ever flown with Lion Air? Share your experience with us by leaving a comment.

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