Indonesia's budget carrier Lion Air said Monday the first of the 60 brand new Boeing 737-900ERs will arrive in April and come to service in the following month for domestic routes.

 

The plane will ply the route from Jakarta to the southern Java city of Yogyakarta, Lion Air spokesman Hasyim Arsal Alhabsi was quoted by the national Antara news agency as saying.

 

Hasyim said the new plane can carry more passengers on less fuel compared with other 737 series in the company.

 

Lion Air, which has been reported to spend some US$3.9 billion to buy the 737-900ERs, will open new routes from Yogyakarta to Malaysia and Singapore, he said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2007)