PT Lion Mentari Airlines, operating as Lion Air, is Indonesia’s largest private carrier and Asia’s first hybrid carrier which offers both economy and business-class seating, based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Lion Air also flies to Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia. Its main base is Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta.It operates scheduled passenger services on an extensive network from Jakarta to 56 destinations (as of July 2010).
Along with many other Indonesian carriers, Lion Air is on the list of air carriers banned in the European Union due to safety concerns as of March 2011
The airline was established in October 1999 and started operations on June 30, 2000, when it began scheduled passenger services between Jakarta and Pontianak using a leased Boeing 737-200. It is owned by Rusdi Kirana and family. The airline is also planning to become anIATA member, thereby becoming the second IATA Indonesian carrier after Garuda Indonesia.
Starting February 2010, Lion Air will increase the number of flights to Jeddah to five times weekly. This route will be served by their two Boeing 747-400 with 496 seats