Lion Air to delay plans to go public this year worth more than U.S. $ 1 billion. Rusdi Kirana, chief executive officer (CEO), Lion Air said, the delay made due to the deteriorating condition of the stock market.

As info before, Lion Air has ambitious expansion plans to increase its flight business. Moreover, the Indonesia's airline company already has had a record of buying 200 Boeing aircraft.

"We can not do it (go public) this year because of the situation with the financial crisis is not so good," said CEO Rusdi Kirana. Rusdi said Lion Air currently has a market share of 51% of domestic flights and plans to go public when their market share reached 60%, something which was expected to occur two years into the future.

Rusdi Kirana ever mentioned, he does not need the IPO funds to pay for orders the plane. Some time ago, the airline is the world's attention, because the largest aircraft order valued at U.S. $ 21.7 billion.

Airbus blamed the United States (U.S.) to apply political pressure to secure an agreement to buy the aircraft. More details, Lion Air to buy 230 planes of shorter route, which purchase was signed in the presence of President Barack Obama.

Regarding the case of drug use by Lion Air, Rudi denied. "The rumors say, the pilots I worked too hard, so they use drink and drugs," said Rusdi. He also explained, "People make up stories to discredit us," he said. In addition to developing its business, Rusdi claims to have set up 1,000 homes for his airline's staff.

Rusdi Kirasna also criticized Europe that still apply black list to Lion Air. While Garuda Indonesia and five other airlines to get relief. "I do not care if the EU wants to blacklist Lion Air, Indonesia is a our market, and I want justice," said Rusdi.

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SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) posted a 53 per cent fourth quarter net profit loss to S$135.2 million (US$108 million) year on year, drawn on revenues of S$3.88 billion which changed little.

Controlled by state investor Temasek Holdings, Singapore Airlines, the world's second largest airline, attributed the decline to the harsh global economic environment, decreasing demand in passenger and cargo markets as well as high fuel prices. Its fuel bill soared 33 per cent in the quarter from a year ago, the company said.

Its profit was lower than the average forecast of S$162.5 million from four analysts polled by Reuters. This is the fourth straight quarter that the airline's profit has underperformed analysts' expectations.

Singapore Airlines said weakness in both passenger and cargo sectors would persist. "Forward bookings continue to show signs of weakness in the final quarter of the financial year, due to uncertainty in the global economy and the protracted Eurozone debt crisis," the airline said in a statement.

"Passenger yields are expected to remain under pressure while cargo yields are expected to continue to decline," it said, adding that slack air cargo market is likely to continue due to soft demand in major developed countries.

To expand, the airline plans to commence its own long-haul budget airline, Scoot, by mid-2012, reported the USA Today, saying that this would help the Singapore Airlines group, including its regional unit, SilkAir, and its short-haul budget affiliate Tiger Airways (with a 33 per cent stake), to run against the odds in 2012.

Late last year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reduced its forecast for airline industry profits by a quarter to $3.5 billion for 2012, adding that IATA warned the industry's losses would increase to an US$8.3 billion if Europe's debt crisis deepens and provokes a new financial crisis. Singapore Airlines quarterly profit declines 53pc to US$108 million

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Low cost carrier, AirAsia, on Monday February 2, was officially have its maiden new flight route from Semarang to Kuala Lumpur. At this inaugural flight, occupancy rates of more than 90%.

Air Asia Regional Head of Commercial Kathleen Tan said Semarang is an unique destination. Many things that make Semarang is interesting, from rapid economic growth, colonial heritage buildings, to the islands within a short tour. "We're really excited to bring tourists from around the world to this historic Semarang," she said.

With the opening of the new route Semarang - Kuala Lumpur, AirAsia already flies to Kuala Lumpur from 14 cities in Indonesia. Prior to Semarang, among other previous departures are from Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Denpasar, Solo, Balikpapan, Palembang, Aceh, Pekanbaru, Padang, and Makassar.

To strengthen the network of routes, AirAsia will also serve Semarang - Jakarta route twice per day, starting March 9. AirAsia Indonesia president director Dharmadi said that this step taken by the company's commitment to serving the domestic market, because the international market is already quite strong.

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