Lion Air to fly Jeddah direct, serving pilgrims, workers

Novan Iman Santosa

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian airline Lion Air is to fly daily to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to serve migrant workers, tourists, business travelers and Muslim pilgrims - igniting a head-to-head competition with bigger rival Garuda Indonesia.

The new route was officially announced Wednesday by president director Rusdi Kirana at a media conference. The inaugural flight is set for June 28.

"The market is so huge we are not afraid about competition," he said.

"We are targeting a load factor of 85 to 90 percent."

Currently only the national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and Saudi Airlines serve the route.

Aside from tourists and business markets the main demand is for pilgrims for haj and umrah (minor haj).

Rusdi added that Lion Air, which has secured all the required permits from both Saudi Arabian and Indonesian authorities, did not consider Garuda as their main competitor despite offering almost the same direct and full-services flights.

"For us, the competitors are foreign airlines bringing Indonesian passengers to the Middle East through third countries," he said.

Rusdi said up to 1 million Indonesians are estimated to reside in Saudi Arabia, mostly migrant workers.

The Jeddah route is Lion Air's first long-haul flight, but its fourth international route after Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

The airplane will fly from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 12:30 p.m. and arrived in Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport at 6 p.m. local time.

The return flight will depart at 8 p.m. local time and arrive at 9:30 a.m. Jakarta time.

"We offer a good schedule for the Jeddah route as it allows our passengers to connect with our more than 30 domestic routes easily," Rusdi said.

"This is what we can offer to our passengers, which cannot be offered by the foreign airlines."

Although Lion Air is known as a low-cost carrier for its domestic routes, Rusdi said the Jeddah route would be a full-service flight offering two meals and other amenities such as blankets and personal entertainment system, including for economy class seats.

"We have also prepared the human resources including 20 pilots, 160 flight attendants and 40 technicians," he said.

Two Boeing 747-400 airplanes will serve the route, with one of them providing back-up.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Association of Indonesian Haj and Umrah Organizers (Amphuri), Baluki Ahmad, welcomed the opening of the Jeddah route.

"The new flights will really help Muslims who want to perform umrah pilgrimages as there are more seats," he said over the phone.

Basuki said about 210,000 Indonesian made the haj pilgrimage in 2008 while another 120,000 Indonesians made the umrah pilgrimage.

Jeddah serves as the main entry and exit gate for international pilgrims.

This is due to its proximity to Islam's two holiest cities, Mecca and Medina, where millions of Muslims from all over the world make pilgrimages every year.

The United States Export-Import Bank has recently approved more than US$1 billion in financing for Lion Air to improve passenger fleets, generate business and create jobs in Indonesia.

The financing will allow the airline to access $238 million to purchase new Boeing 737-900ER planes and provide preliminary authorization for another $841 million, for a total of 30 new passenger jets.

First published on The Jakarta Post on Thursday, April 30, 2009