The first Airbus A330-900 of Lion Air carried out its first flight on June 27 in Toulouse, France. Airbus will deliver the aircraft to the Indonesian low-cost in the coming days.
The aircraft registered F-WWYA is the first of the eight A330neo leased from the BOC Aviation’s order book with Airbus. Lion Air has two more A330-900 on order purchased directly from the European aircraft manufacturer.
The A330-900s of the Indonesian operator will be configured to accommodate 440 passengers in an all-Economy class, as the airline’s three Airbus A330-300 in service.
Lion Air will use its first A330-900 on some domestic routes and for charter and pilgrimage flights to Saudi Arabia. The A330neos will allow the Asian budget flight specialist to add new routes to its existing network thanks to its longer range and the fuel-efficient new generation engines.
Airlinerwatch reports that three of the ten A330-900 will be operated by the Lion Air Group subsidiary Thai Lion Air based in Bangkok-Don Mueang. Lion Air Group has five airlines in three countries: Lion Air, Wings Air and Batik Air in Indonesia, Malindo Air in Malaysia and Thai Lion Air in Thailand.
The Group fleet consists of 315 aircraft in total including 188 Boeing 737, 43 Airbus A320, and 78 ATR aircraft. There are more than 240 Boeing 737 MAX and 180 A320 family jets on the airline’s backlog waiting to be delivered.
The 737 MAXs have been grounded around the world after two crashes in less than half a year in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The 737 MAX 8, which was plunged into the Java Sea just after take-off, was belonging to Lion Air. After the second crash in Ethiopia on March 10, the Indonesian carrier said it might cancel its 737 MAX orders.
