Indonesia-China market: rapid growth benefits Citilink, Garuda, Lion 

The Indonesia-China market is growing rapidly, driven by inbound tourism, and is starting to capture the attention of LCCs. There are now more than 60,000 one-way weekly seats from Indonesia to China during peak periods, compared to 10,000 peak one-way weekly seats five years ago.

Lion Air has pursued rapid expansion in the Indonesia-China market over the past two years, launching more than 20 charter routes between the two countries. Lion's capacity share in the Indonesia-China market has grown from literally zero three years ago to nearly 30% currently.

Garuda Indonesia has tripled its China capacity over the past three years, while its LCC subsidiary Citilink has launched several charter routes. The Garuda Indonesia Group now has nearly a 40% share of Indonesia-China seat capacity. Citilink plans to begin operating scheduled services to China in late Oct-2018 with an initial three routes, resulting in the only scheduled LCC capacity in the Indonesia-China market.