Another of the new airlines authorized under Indonesian law, Lion is established at Jakarta during the spring of 2000 to offer scheduled revenue service. Shareholding is divided between President Rusdi Ki-rana (49%) and local, unnamed partners (51%). The company’s operating license allows for scheduled services on 48 domestic routes, but only five are planned for this year. Of the four Being 737-200As on order, one, a Dash-2P5A, has been delivered under lease from NAT Aviation by June 15.
Twice-daily Boeing 737-2P5A return frequencies are inaugurated on June 30 linking the carrier’s base with Pontianak. Lion’s $115 one-way fare on this route is almost 30% lower than that charged by the state carrier Merpati Nusantara Airlines. Additionally, Lion attempts to attract its passengers through the provision of better service. For example, it offers tray meals instead of box lunches and gives toys away to children.
The Pontianak launch makes Lion the second new carrier after Awair International Airlines to begin service in 2000. When the delivery of a second “Baby Boeing” from ILFC is delayed in July, an Airbus Industrie A300B4 is leased short-term and employed to fly passengers from Jakarta to both Medan and Surabaya.
During late fall as the carrier plans for a serious upgrade in its services, arrangements are made for fleet expansion. Instead of additional Western charter orders, however, President Rusdi Kirana places an order for up to 25 Yakovlev Yak 42Ds from Russia. The first Yak arrives in Indonesia in November and, after passing flight feasibility and safety tests, is awarded its government airworthiness certificate.
On December 9, daily Yak-42D return service is launched from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur via Surabaya. The second Yak-42D arrives in mid-December and is employed to initiate daily roundtrips from Medan to Penang and Kuala Lumpur on December 20. Plans are made for the receipt of two more Yaks in January.
LIONAIR (PTY.), LTD.: Asian Aviation Centre, Colombo Airport, Ratmaiawa, Sri Lanka; Phone 94 (1) 622 622; Fax 94 (1) 611 540; Code LNS; Year Founded 1994. Owned by the U. S. firm Lionvert, Inc., USA and having government backing, Lionair is established at Colombo on July 29, 1994, to fly unscheduled passenger and cargo services to regional destinations. Donald T. McDevitt is chairman, Chandran Rutnam is co-chairman, and Wing Comdr. (Ret.) Palitha Wijesuriya is managing director/CEO. Operations commence on October 24 with a pair of Antonov An-24s.
Although specific figures are not provided, company officials, on the date of the first anniversary in October 1995, claim that the company has made a “solid profit” for its first 12 months.
Flights to 8 destinations continue and by 1998, airline employment stands at 22.
Just after takeoff from the Palaly AFB on a September 30 service to Colombo, Flight 602, an An-24 with 7 crew and 48 passengers, disappears off Mannar. While a search is undertaken, the airline is ordered to stop flying to Colombo by the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) on advice of the Ministry of Defense (MOD).
The CAD investigates the disappearance during the next month, but no wreckage is found. It is widely believed that the loss is the work of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Still, Managing Director Wi-jesuriya writes the CAD on October 30, seeking to resume flights on November 9. Approval from the CAD and MOD is not forthcoming.
On January 25, 1999, the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry informs the press, including the BBC, that Helitours, Ltd. will be reactivated to operate daily service into the Jaffna Peninsula. The service will replace the frequencies previously provided by Lionair before its aircraft was destroyed.
Although Managing Director Wijesuriya has continued to seek authorization for a service restart, it still has not been received by the spring of 2000.
LIONAIR, S. A. See CARGOLUX AIRLINES INTERNATIONAL, S. A.
LIPETSK STATE AIR COMPANY (LIPETSKOE STATE AVIA KOMPANIYA): Lipetsk Airport, 398000, Russia; Phone 7 (0742) 250 106; Code LIP; Year Founded 1993. LUAD is a reformed Aeroflot Soviet Airlines unit based at Lipetsk Airport. In 1993, Comdr. Yaroslav V. Spiridonov’s mixed fleet of 40 Antonov An-2s, 13 Yakovlev Yak-40s, 1 Yak-42s, and Mil Mi-2 helicopters continue regional services as before. The workforce in 1994 totals 790.
Flights continue in 1995-2000, during which years two Yak 40s are withdrawn and replaced with two Yak-42s. In addition, a large complement of Mil Mi-2s is acquired; 24 helicopters undertake charters and aerial support contract work.
LISLE AIR SERVICE: United States (1965-1966). LAS is set up at
Fresno, California, in the fall of 1965 to provide scheduled passenger and cargo services to Sacramento. Employing a Cessna 206, Lisle begins revenue flights in November. Unable to achieve viability, the tiny commuter disappears in 1966.
LITHUANIAN AIRLINES, A. B. (LIETUVOS AVIALINIIOS): A. Gustaieio 4, Vilnius Airport, Vilnius, 232038, Lithuania; Phone 370 (2) 306 017; Fax 370 (2) 266 828; Http://www. lal. lt; Code TE; Year Founded 1991.
This new national carrier is originally founded at Vilnius in 1989 as one of three Aeroflot Soviet Airlines divisions given an autonomous status. Indeed, it is the first airline to be formed for the newly independent Baltic republics. Plans call for development of a separate fleet and route structure.
In 1990, Stasys Dailyka is appointed managing director and during the remainder of the year and into 1991, he assembles a fleet comprised of 4 Antonov An-24s, 3 An-26s, 9 Tupolev Tu-134As, and 12 Yak-42Ds.
These are employed to start regional services to Ekaterinburg, Groznyg, Kiev, Mineral Vody, Moscow, Odessa, St. Petersburg, Samara, Taskent, Ufa, and Warsaw.
A single Boeing 737-2Q8A is leased with which to inaugurate scheduled international passenger services to Berlin, Frankfurt, and Copenhagen. A six-month contract is signed with MALEV Hungarian Airlines to provide flight crew and technicians to operate the plane.
On September 20, the company is officially registered and begins operations under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The first B-737-2Q8A flight to Copenhagen is operated on December 20.
In 1992, the first full year of independent service, LA continues to operate its Boeing 737-2Q8A with support and pilot training provided under contract by MALEV Hungarian Airlines. On August 3, weekly service is inaugurated to London-one flight to Gatwick and one to Heathrow; the British frequencies on October 25 become twice weekly to London (LGW) from Vilnius. The carrier joins IATA during the fourth quarter.
A total of 631,516 passengers and 5.25 million FTKs are flown during the year.
The training contract with MALEV is completed on January 20, 1993. The number of short-haul Boeings is increased to four during the year as new international routes are opened to Amsterdam, Paris, and Stockholm. Yak-42 service between Vilnius and London (LGW) is increased to thrice weekly. At the beginning of the winter scheduled in October, the U. K. base is switched to London (LHR).
Customer bookings plunge 66.8% to 209,637 while cargo drops a huge 81.1% to 992,000 FTKs.
In 1994, Managing Director Dailyka oversees a workforce of 1,200. On a tour of the U. S. and Canada, Dailyka retains the services of three to four consultants, including Bill Walker, an aircraft sales and lease specialist. Scheduled frequencies are initiated to Hamburg and Tallin, while charter flights are made to Athens and Istanbul. A new red and white color scheme is introduced during the fall.
Passenger boardings jump 11% to 232,588 as freight ascends 13.5% to 7.88 million FTKs.
Managing Director Dailyka and U. S. advisor Walker prepare a new business plan at the beginning of 1995. Points outlined include modernization of the internal organizational structure, westernization of bookkeeping and accounting practices, computerization, improved marketing, and the acquisition of Western aircraft with which to replace Soviet capacity. As a result of their work, new offices are opened in Frankfurt, Warsaw, Stockholm, Moscow, London, and Copenhagen.
Walker, whose five-year contract with the airline requires him to be in Vilnius one week per month, is particularly interested in selling the company’s fleet of Antonov An-2s to aircraft enthusiasts in the U. S., to and from which he commutes each month.
Passenger carriage is not nearly as successful as it had been a year earlier-enplanements decline by 12.5% to 203,415. Cargo is a completely different story, with 7.88 million FTKs operated.
There are no changes in the employee population in 1996 and the owned fleet now includes 12 Yak-42s, 6 Tu-134As, and 1 Lockheed L-1329 Jetstar 731. Also operated, under charter, are 1 each B-737-2Q8A, B-737-2T2A, and B-737-2T4A. A code-sharing alliance is signed with Finnair O/Y in May. It leads to dual designator flights that begin in August on a route from Vilnius to Helsinki. Two SAAB 340Bs are requested in December.
Customer bookings dip another 0.2% to 202,917, but freight traffic plunges 40% to 2.28 million FTKs.
The workforce is cut by 3.5% in 1997, to 1,045. Early in January, the company, hubbing on Vilnius, launches regional services with the first leased SAAB 340. Initial schedules include flights to Berlin, Warsaw, and Kiev.
On February 11, the government of Lithuania announces its intention to privatize both of its carriers beginning in the fall of 1998. The second Swedish-built turboprop is delivered in April.
In June, the Ministry of Transport approves a plan to merge the company with Lietuva Air Company, A. B. (Air Lithuania, Ltd.). This transfer does not occur.
Rather than merge Air Lithuania into Lithuanian, the former becomes a subsidiary of the latter on September 11. Although its shares are turned over to the other carrier, Air Lithuania retains its identity and is allowed to function as a regional operator.
By the end of the year, the company is visiting markets at Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Ekaterinburg, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Kiev, London, Moscow, Odessa, Paris, Samara, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Tallinn, Tashkent, and Warsaw. Charters are also flown to Athens and Istanbul.
Passenger boardings shoot up by 11% to 225,868 while cargo climbs 29% to 2.5 million FTKs. Revenues ascend 3.6% to 53 million.
In early May 1998, a strategic alliance, effective September 1, is entered into with SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System). The two will try to blunt aggressive Baltic marketing by Finnair O/Y by offering reciprocal code-sharing and ground handling, while coordinating their Baltic routes. On May 12, a dual-designator pact is inked with Air Baltic, A. S.
A B-737-382, first flown by TAP-Air Portugal, S. A., is chartered from ILFC in June and arrives wearing the airline’s new livery.
A marketing and code-sharing agreement is signed with LOT Polish Airlines, S. A. on September 4. When the pact takes effect on October 26, the two sell tickets on each other’s route between Vilnius and Warsaw, which LOT flies in the morning and LAL in the evening.
During the fall, two SAAB 2000s are leased from their manufacturer. The first arrives at Vilnius on November 19 and enters service on November 22 over the route to Stockholm. The second SAAB 2000 is delivered on December 16.
Customer bookings jump 11.5% to 252,000, while cargo traffic falls 9.3% to 2.27 million FTKs.
By the beginning of 1999, airline employment has been increased by 10% to 1,150. On February 26, an agreement is made to fly members of the Lithuanian National Olympic Committee. Also in February, a new Amber Miles frequent flyer program is unveiled.
During the first quarter, a new homepage is opened on the World Wide Web. With backing from the Transport and Communications Ministry, additional capacity is acquired, including two B-737-200As (a Dash-2T4A and Dash-2T2A) purchased on credit supplied by the U. S. Export-Import Bank and a pair of SAAB 340Bs.
New services are introduced between Vilnius and Minsk on June 16 and during July both pilots and flight attendants begin to wear new uniforms.
Internet booking becomes possible in September.
Customer bookings slide 3.1% during the 12 months to 244,000 while cargo traffic drops 27% to 1.66 million FTKs.
Capt. Stasys Jarmalavicius is director general at the beginning of 2000 and airline employment stands at 1,181. Destinations visited include Berlin, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Stockholm, Paris, London, Moscow, Warsaw, Helsinki, Kiev, Minsk, Riga, and Tallinn.
The last of the company’s Russian-made airliners, a Yak-42, is withdrawn from service on February 23 and sold.
A marketing and code-sharing agreement is signed with KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines, N. V.) on February 24. Under its terms, the partners are able to jointly operate a service from Vilnius to Amsterdam.
A new supervisory board and board of directors is approved on March 21; on March 27, Kestutis Auryla is appointed director general.
The new subsidiary Aviatours & Partners begins business in May as the tour operator arm of Lithuanian Airlines. Customers are urged to book holiday trips, via the firm, for Turkey, Spain, and Bulgaria. In July, the company enters into an exclusive contract with the 700-unit European Minotel hotel chain.
When Air Ukraine is forced to drop its service between Kiev and Vilnius on September 11, Lithuanian increases return frequencies on the route from thrice weekly to five times a week on October 28.
Figures for the first nine months are released at the end of October and show that passenger boardings have risen 36% as compared to the same period a year earlier. Despite these gains, rising fuel prices and a weak Euro are causing losses—profitless prosperity.
Just after the New Year, traffic figures for the entire year are released and show passenger boardings up 21% over 1999 to 294,800; freight traffic has risen 2% to 1.69 million FTKs. Anticipating losses of about $5 million due to an 11.71% increase in costs, the State Property Fund steps in and replaces the old management with a new one led by a new chairman, the Deputy Transport Minister Kazimieras Savinis.
World History
