THAI Lion Air has received an air operator licence from Thailand’s Ministry of Transport and is now working to get an air operator certificate from Thailand’s Department of Civil Aviation to commence operations.
The carrier to be based at Bangkok’s Don Muang International Airport currently has more than 100 employees and will have 200 when it starts flying. It hopes to start operations before year-end, subject to regulatory approval, with two brand new Boeing 737-900ERs.
The carrier’s first route will be from Bangkok to Jakarta, twice daily, and it plans to launch a daily service from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur and a thrice-daily service from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.
By launching services to Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur, it will be able to connect to Lion Group’s affiliate in Malaysia, Malindo Air, and to subsidiaries Lion Air and Wings Air, which together serve 76 destinations in Indonesia.
Lion Air CEO, Darsito Hendro Seputro, said the launch of the carrier’s Bangkok-Jakarta service will effectively mean that the Thai capital will immediately be connected to every city and major town in Indonesia with a one-stop service via Jakarta.
Meanwhile, Bangkok Post reported that the carrier is aiming for 12 of the Boeing 737-900ER planes in its fleet by the end of 2014, before ramping up to 50 in five years.
