In Reply to: Les posted by walkabout on Thursday, 31. January 2008 at 16:05 Bali Time:
The company is renewing its fleet with new Boeing 737-900 aircraft and has a huge order placed with Boeing for its fleet expansion programme.
Lion, and its "sister" Wings purport to be Low Cost Carriers but in reality are "High Cost / NO Service" Airlines. I will not fly with them again unless as an absolute only option. Their new aircraft are "bare-bones" models - not even video monitors for safety announcements. Service is non-existent and all cabin crew appear to have been "sucking lemons" before boarding. You get a plastic "Aqua-Glas" water cup literally thrown at you by a surly-faced young "lady" who would make even the most arrogant Quantas cabin staff look as though they had won a major lottery!
Lion and Wings have turned the phrase "on time" into a joke and have, in fact turned protracted delays into an "art form". Should a Lion or Wings flight actually arrive on time, it is cause to crack-open an expensive Champagne to celebrate the event. Delays in excess of one hour are the "norm" with up to three hours not uncommon. Their ground-handling services are apalling, with anything up to 1 hour after landing for final baggage to appear on the carousels.
Seating is incredibly tight - worst I have seen in fact - particularly on a new aircraft and it is not possible to even purchase a drink or a snack, even on flights of over 3 hours duration.
The most amazing thing is that their flights are always heavily-booked. By effective advertising they have duped the Indonesian citizens into believing they are "cheap" when in fact their fares are amongst the highest around. On a trip to Bali, my outbound Manado/Denpasar with Garuda with excellent legroom in Economy Class and full meal service cost me Rp.1,100,000; my return with Lion Air cost me Rp. 1,450,000 with absolutely nothing to show for it.
The advent of Lion Air into Australia (but when is the question) will hopefully see more direct flights between Oz and Bali, but if they follow their present operational strategies, there will be no bargains and no service either. Still, we can hope that their arrival may stir-up some enthusiasm from Garuda as Indonesia's National Carrier to re-introduce its Brisbane and Adelaide routes. By then, Garuda should have received sufficient of its new NG Boeing 737-800's which have the range to service Adelaide at least and are very cost-effective from an operational viewpoint.