Indonesia’s Lion Air Roars with Record Boeing Order

By Rizwan Khatik - Fri Nov 18, 2:55 pm

Little over a decade ago, Indonesian budget airline Lion Air served a single route on remote Borneo island. On Friday, it placed a $21.7 billion order with Boeing, the airplane giant’s biggest commercial order on record.

48-year-old Rusdi is now CEO, and Kusnan is president commissioner was one of dozens of new carriers to emerge around that time in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, including Sriwijaya Air and the now bankrupt Adam Air.

The Boeing deal for 230 short-haul jets takes Lion Air’s orderbook to more than 400 planes, which they aim to use to fly across an Asia-Pacific region still seeing robust passenger growth despite the shaky global economy.

The deal includes options for another 150 aircraft valued at $14 billion, bringing its potential total value to $35 billion.

The deal for 201 of Boeing’s updated 737 MAX planes and 29 Next-Generation 737-900 extended range planes — announced as US President Barack Obama attended a regional meeting in Indonesia — will be financed in part by the U.S. Exim Bank, Sirait said.

The rest will come from a consortium of international banks, which is still being finalized. Delivery of the planes will be in 2017-25.