Lion Air Group founder and chief executive officer Rusdi Kirana says the firm's Thai and Malaysian units - Thai Lion Air (SL, Bangkok Don Mueang) and Malindo Air (Kuala Lumpur International) - are considering starting longhaul flights in the next five years.
Speaking to Reuters, Kirana said both subsidiaries are looking at serving Europe from 2020 onwards. He did not offer any further details.
For its part, Malindo Air currently serves thirty-one destinations across Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Australia with plans to enter the southern Chinese and Saudi Arabian markets later this year. Thai Lion Air, on the other hand, focuses its attention primarily on the Thai domestic market with regional services to Singapore Changi, and Changsha Huanghua, Hefei and Jinan in China. Both currently operate B737-800 and B737-900(ER) fleets with Malindo also operating ATR72-600s.
