Lion Air and Garuda Indonesia to overtake Singapore Airlines with largest fleets in Southeast Asia

Indonesia's emergence as one of the largest and fastest growing markets in Asia will be reinforced over the next couple of months as Garuda and Lion Air surpass Singapore Airlines (SIA) to become the largest carriers in Southeast Asia based on fleet size. As groups, Garuda and Lion will also end 2013 with more aircraft than the SIA Group and the AirAsia Group.

Garuda took delivery of its 100th aircraft in late Aug-2013 while Lion plans to take delivery of its 100th aircraft in late 2013. Currently only one airline in Southeast Asia, Singapore Airlines (SIA), has over 100 in service aircraft. But SIA's fleet, which currently stands at 102 aircraft, will shrink to 101 aircraft over the next few months while Garuda and Lion will continue to rapidly expand.

Reaching the 100-aircraft milestone is a significant achievement for both Garuda and Lion. The other major flag carriers in the region, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and Thai Airways, also currently operate over 90 aircraft.