Lion Air Logo — PT Lion Mentari Airlines , which operates as Lion Air is the largest airline in Indonesia and the first in Asia to offer both flights in economy class seats and business, one based in Jakarta , Indonesia . Lion Air also flies to Malaysia , Singapore , Vietnam and Saudi Arabia . Its main base is Soekarno-Hatta International Airport , Jakarta . operates scheduled passenger flights in its extensive domestic network to 42 destinations with 226 daily flights (December 2009). Like many other airlines Indonesia , Lion Air is on the list of airlines banned within the EU due to safety reasons since December 2009.
The airline was founded in 1999 and began operations on June 30, 2000, when he began regular passenger flights between Jakarta and Pontianak using a Boeing 737-200 . It is owned by Rusdi Kirana and family. The airline currently is considering becoming a member IATA and become the second airline Indonesia IATA member after Garuda Indonesia . In early 2010, Lion Air increased the number of flights to Jeddah to meet the five weekly. This route is served by two Boeing 747-400 that have 496 seats each. In January 2008, Lion Air announced plans to begin operating from Australia . 4 The new airline, to be called Lion Air Australia , planned to operate as a carrier of domestic and international flights. He has not be new news since then.