Indonesia AirAsia (QZ, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) plans to have all its aircraft back in the air in 2023 and add additional planes to the fleet. CEO Veranita Yosephine Sinaga and corporate secretary Leon Ruben outlined the 2023 strategy at a December 21, 2022, shareholder’s briefing.

The airline presently has 16 of its 23 aircraft operational. Sinaga said capacity had increased “tremendously” throughout 2022. Asked about the seven planes still parked, she said “efforts are being made to resume operations soon… we are quite confident that we can recover overall in the next few months.”

The airline exclusively operates A320-200s and, according to ch-aviation schedules data, currently has a 3.44% market share in Indonesia (measured by seat capacity). However, discounting domestic routes where the airline had historically lagged behind its local competitors, Indonesia AirAsia is offering the most seats of any airline on routes in and out of Indonesia, with a 12.9% market share. Sinaga acknowledged the advantages this international market segment dominance gives the low-cost carrier and told shareholders more engagement with tourist authorities and marketing boards in Indonesia could help drive more domestic traffic.

“It is a great opportunity to stimulate demand by using promotional methods and marketing assets that we have,” she said. “Currently, the focus of the company is still to maximize operations by increasing the aircraft fleet and opening new routes both domestically and internationally while continuing to search for opportunities to strengthen capital.”

Sinaga did not elaborate on numbers or timelines or give further details regarding any fleet expansion, but Leon Ruben later said any aircraft additions would come on leases and noted that Indonesia AirAsia’s planned 2023 capital expenditure was already high. Only one of the airline’s current A320-200s is owned, with the remainder coming from various lessors. Airbus order data indicates Indonesia AirAsia has no outstanding orders. However, the Malaysia-based AirAsia, whose parent company Capital A, maintains a large stake in its Indonesian joint venture via a holding company, has almost 400 narrowbodies on order. Once deliveries ramp up, many of those planes are expected to get spread around AirAsia’s affiliate airlines.