Lion Air puts in an order for up 380 737’s… wha?

This is one I’ve been trying to get my head round since I first read it on Flight earlier. And that is Lion Air of Indonesia has ordered 29 Boeing 737-900ER’s and 201 737-MAX’s (being the second operator confirmed to operate the new 737-MAX series, with options for another 150 aircraft.

That makes a grand total 380 aircraft possible on the order books, at a list price of US$21.7 billion.

Now, we all know that practically no airline pays list for an aircraft, so there must be some steep discounting to buy that many birds.

But what is Lion Air planning to do with them?

Wikipedia says that Lion Air is trying to establish a joint-venture with Malaysian regional carrier Berjaya Air, in order to create a Malaysian subsidiary. That’s still a lot of aircraft to fuel, fill, carry and take everywhere.

So what are Lion really up to? That is a very good question with very few answers…