Lion Air Tops Domestic Passenger Totals in 2009

(3/3/2009)

In 2008 some 37 million people took a commercial domestic flight, down 2 million passengers from the total passengers carried in 2007.

The deregulation of commercial aviation in Indonesia has given consumers choices and competitive pricing unimaginable just a few years ago.

A recap of passengers carried provided by the Indonesian Department of Transportation shows that Garuda Indonesia is no longer the busiest domestic air carrier, having been displaced by the aggressive newcomer Lion Air who carried 19.5% more passengers than the state-owned national carrier in 2008. In fact, if the total passengers carried by the Lion Air and its subsidiary Wing Air are combined, the gap over Garuda widens further to 49.7%.

Here's a recap of total domestic passengers carried by domestic Indonesian airlines in 2008, based on figure provided by the Department of Transportation:

• Lion Air - 9,147,942

• Wing Abadi - 2,328.508 (A subsidiary of Lion Air)

• Garuda Indonesia - 7,665,390

• Batavia Air - 4,771,272

• Sriwijaya Air - 4,272,876

• Manadala Airlines - 3,449,218

• Merpati Nusantara - 2,477,173

• Indonesia AirAsia - 1,503,672

• Trigana Air Service - 702,718

• Linus Airways - 268,203

• Travel Express - 267,371

• Riau Airlines - 232,248

• Kalstar Aviation- 16,913

• Indonesia Air Transport - 7,548