Lion Air Shores Up Pilot Training for Fleet Growth
AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE » AUGUST 12, 2013 by NEELAM MATHEWS Lion Air recently ordered 20 Cessna 172s and a third 737 simulator for pilot training. (Photo: Wings Flying School) August 12, 2013, 9:50 AM Lion Air, Indonesia’s largest domestic carrier, is expanding its routes and training facilities, having ordered 20 Cessna 172s and one Boeing 737- 900ER simulator, its third, to shore up an impending need for pilots. The budget carrier has placed orders for more than 500 narrowbodies with Boeing and Airbus ; it currently has a fleet of 96 aircraft. Indonesia’s growing middle class and poorly served air corridors have provided the region’s airlines with opportunities for expansion. In the next 20 years, the Indonesian middle class will grow from 130 million to 240 million people, the World Bank estimates. Malindo Air of Malaysia, which is 49 percent owned by Lion Air, is launching a daily nonstop 7...