Lion Air Places Firm Orders For 10 Aircraft, Another 10 On Option

Over the past three years, as fuel prices steadily climbed towards the stratosphere, French planemaker ATR has seen a resurgence in orders for its line of regional airliners. And while the price of oil has since fallen dramatically, few expect that trend to continue.

This week, ATR announced a Memorandum of Understanding from Indonesia's Lion Air, comprising 10 firm orders for its ATR 72-500 and options for 10 additional aircraft. The deal, announced during the Indodefence Air show in Jakarta, is valued at more than US $380 million, including options.

The aircraft will be the first new ATR 72-500s to fly the Indonesia's skies. The 72-seat planes will be operated by Lion Air's subsidiary Wings Air, and will be equipped with higher-power rated PW127M engines. Deliveries are expected to start in 2009.

"These aircraft are for our subsidiary Wings Air and the reason we want these aircraft is for our feeder service to support our Boeing 737-900ER operations," said Rusdi Kirana, Lion Air CEO. "With our brand new fleet of ATR 72-500s, we will be able to develop a strong low-cost network, feeding Lion Air's major hubs."

Added ATR CEO Stéphane Mayer, "Today's deal with Lion Air is also very important for us in order to increase our presence in the expanding Indonesian market and continue the growth of our large fleet in South East Asia, which has become a real booming market in the last three years."

Including the 10 firm orders under the Lion Air MoU, ATR has sold 968 aircraft since the beginning of the program -- 419 ATR 42s and 549 ATR 72s. It has delivered 799 aircraft to date.

FMI: www.atraircraft.com, www.lionair.co.id