Lion offered US funding to buy Boeings
More details have emerged about Boeing’s record-breaking deal with Indonesia’s Lion Air for 230 aircraft at a list price of US$21.7 billion (TravelMole, Nov 18)
The deal was signed off in the presence of US President Barack Obama during his visit to Bali for the ASEAN summit last week.
The deal is likely to be financed by the US Export-Import Bank, an independent agency that finances sales of America exports to international purchasers.
The Air Transport Association, the leading U.S. trade group for major carriers, last week sought an injunction to stop the Export-Import Bank providing Air India with a US$3.4 billion taxpayer-backed loan guarantees for Air India to buy Boeing aircraft.
A spokesman for Lion Air told AFP that the Export-Import bank had offered to fully fund the purchase, but added that no loan agreement had yet been signed.
Lion Air is Indonesia’s largest private carrier, owned by brothers Kusnan and Rusdi Kirana. 


In 2007, Lion Air was among several Indonesian airlines banned by the European Union for lax safety standards. 

The ban on flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and several other carriers was lifted in July 2009, but Lion Air still remains on the blacklist. 


AFP reported that Halim Kalla, a member of former dictator Suharto’s Golkar party, and brother of former vice president Jusuf Kalla, is a member of Lion’s board.
Earlier this year, Lion signed a deal with national police chief Timur Pradopo, appointed to his post by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2010, for the airline to transport police officers.
Ian Jarrett
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