Lion Air Flight Center

Lion Air is owned by Indonesian-Chinese tycoons Rusdi and Kusnan Kirana.

Lion Air’s parent company, Lion Group, dominates the Indonesian market with over 50% market share.

The CEO of Lion Group, Rusdi Kirana, started the company with his brother Kusnan in 1999 with $1.2 million capital. Before the Lion Air, Mr. Rusdi started out his career as a typewriter salesman and then a baking-ingredients salesman. At the moment, the brothers are estimated by Forbes to be worth $1.4 billion.

No. Although Thai Lion Air is a part of the same Lion Air Group as Lion Air (together with other associate airlines: Wings Air, Batik Air, Lion Bizjet and Malindo Air), both airlines operate separately, with a different fleet, website, booking system, staff, etc.

No, Lion Air does not fly to Australia. But Batik Air and Malindo Air - the airlines owned by the Lion Air Group, do fly to Australia (from Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia).

To cancel your Lion Air ticket just visit Manage Booking > Refund Request section on Lion Air website and fill out the refund request form. You will need your Booking Reference (PNR) code and passenger names, and you can choose between Bank Account and Credit Card for your refund to be sent to.

The refund fees vary but expect 25% fee if you cancel your ticket more than 72 hours prior to departure date, up to 90% fees if it's last-minute cancellation (less than 4 hours before take-off).

Lion Air has a questionable safety record. It is also known for running up long delays (25% of flights are late or very late) and other operational problems.

Lion Air crashed twice with fatalities.

The largest fatal accident took place on October 29, 2018, when a Lion Air plane carrying 189 people crashed into the Java Sea, just after taking off from the capital Jakarta. Lion Air Flight 610 was heading to the city of Pangkal Pinang off the island of Sumatra. There were no survivors. The accident was the first that involved the new Boeing 737 MAX.

The second-largest accident involved McDonnell Douglas MD-82, on 30 November 2004. Flight 583 from Jakarta to Surabaya with a stopover at Surakarta killed 25 people (of 153 onboard) when the airplane overran the runway of Adi Sumarmo Airport in Surakarta and crashed onto a cemetery on landing.

Other, non-fatal accidents include:

○ In 2002 Boeing 737-200 crashed after taking off from Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport (Pekanbaru, Sumatra). The plane was written off but no passengers were killed.

○ 2 separate incidents in 2006: an MD-82 and a Boeing 737-400 were written off but everyone on board survived.

○ In 2010 a Boeing 737-800 overshot the runway at Supadio Airport near Pontianak in West Borneo. Several passengers were injured.

○ In 2013, Boeing 737-800 crashed into water short of the runway while on final approach to land in Bali. The aircraft's fuselage broke into two, and out of 108 people on board, 46 were injured.

○ In 2014, two passengers were seriously injured after an aircraft’s tail struck the runway at the international airport in Surabaya.

○ In 2016, a Boeing 737-900ER suffered a nosewheel runway excursion incident after landing at Surabaya Juanda International Airport in Surabaya in Java. There were no injuries.

○ In April 2018, the main nose gear of a Boeing 737-800 collapsed after a landing in heavy rain.

Lion Air has 201 Boeing 737 MAX. The aircraft is not operational at the moment, as the 737 MAX was grounded worldwide by aviation authorities after an Ethiopian Airlines MAX crash in March 2019, and Lion Air MAX crash in October 2018.

Lion Air serves food onboard, but the menu is limited. There are no complimentary meals or drinks and pre-booking is not possible.

There is no free checked baggage allowance in Economy class.

Regarding cabin baggage, passengers are permitted to bring a single piece of carry-on luggage weighing up to 7 kg, measuring up to 40 cm x 30 cm x 20 cm. Everyday personal items (purses, laptops, umbrellas, etc) are also allowed free of charge.

Prepaid baggage can be booked online on the Lion Air website or at the travel agent. Visit the airline’s website for pricing.

As a general rule both Lion Air and Thai Lion Air do not allow pets onboard.

In certain situations, guide dogs may be allowed. You should always contact the airline in advance for further instructions if you plan to travel with your guide dog though.

While flight tracking information is not available on the Lion Air website, its flights can be tracked using third-party websites: FlightAware or FlightStats.

Lion Air recommends arriving at the airport at least 2 hours before departure for domestic flights and 3 hours for international flights. This allows for the less rushed and stressful travel experience. The real optimal arrival time depends on the airport, your baggage (checked baggage to drop off, or hand luggage only), your knowledge about airport procedures and time of the year. For busy holiday periods, special events or even weekends, you should add more time, just in case.