Batik Air
Batik Air is an Indonesian scheduled airline headquartered at Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Jakarta. Established in 2012 as the full-service division of the Lion Air Group, Batik Air conducted its inaugural flight on May 3, 2013, connecting Jakarta with Manado and Yogyakarta. The airline offers premium services. Batik Air shares its branding and full-service model with its sister airline, Batik Air Malaysia. Both airlines operate under the Lion Air Group, providing coordinated services and shared operational standards to enhance connectivity across Southeast Asia and beyond.
Key facts
History
Founding
On November 18, 2011, Lion Air announced its intentions to enter the full service market with the announcement of a premium subsidiary by the name of Space Jet; the airline was to be a full-service subsidiary to compete with the Indonesian flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia, which at the time was the only operating full service carrier (monopoly) serving the Indonesian market.
In June 2012, Batik Air was established, following a rename from Space Jet. The announcement was followed by a commitment by the Lion Air Group for five Boeing 787 Dreamliners to be allocated to Batik, intending to have them delivered by 2015.
The airline began operations on May 3, 2013 using Boeing 737-900ERs leased from Lion Air, and at that point became the country's third full service carrier after Garuda Indonesia and the short-lived Pacific Royale Airways. Batik Air's 737-900ERs were equipped with a two-class seating configuration, replacing Lion Air's two-class 737-900ER service. The new service offered passengers a personal television (in-flight entertainment system) in every seat, light snacks and free meals, and seat pitches of 32 inches (81 cm) in economy class and 45 inches (114 cm) in business class, as well as free baggage allowances.
In 2014, Lion Air Group cancelled the Boeing 787 deal with Boeing and indefinitely shelved plans for the long-haul expansion of Batik Air, citing the airline's inclusion in the European Union airline blacklist at the time. In June 2016, the airline was removed from the EU Blacklist, together with its parent Lion Air.
Expansion
In November 2019, Batik Air received its first wide-body aircraft, a single Airbus A330-300, transferred from Thai Lion Air. The airline announced its intention to use the aircraft to fly to Saudi Arabia, carrying umrah passengers to Jeddah and Medina, complementing Lion Air's existing service. Medina later became the airline's first long haul route when it launched flights from Surabaya carrying hajj pilgrims on December 17 of that year. In February 2020, the aircraft was used to repatriate Indonesian nationals from Wuhan, China during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Controversy arose in which members of the People's Representative Council questioned the decision to have Batik Air operate the repatriation flight in place of the state-owned Garuda Indonesia; the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation later issued a statement justifying the choice, citing Batik's existing permit to fly to Wuhan.
On 27 April 2022, Lion Air Group's Malaysian full service subsidiary, Malindo Air, rebranded as Batik Air Malaysia, adopting a common identity with the existing Batik Air. The then-CEO of Batik Air (Indonesia), Capt. Achmad Luftie, announced that Batik Air Malaysia would function as an international complement to the Indonesian arm, using Kuala Lumpur as a transit point beyond South East Asia for Batik Air passengers. In May 2022, the airline announced plans to expand its international network from Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali.
In December 2022, Batik Air, along with the other Lion Air Group airlines, relocated its main base to Terminal 2 at Soekarno Hatta International Airport, consolidating the operation of the entire group at the terminal. Per the same year, Batik Air, together with Lion Air, is reported to have a combined market share of 44% out of Soekarno Hatta International Airport, in terms of seat capacity and flight frequencies.
In February 2023, the airline was ranked fourth out of the seven airlines that were included in a survey of Indonesian people listing their favorite airlines conducted by Jakpat.
Its airports
Its main hubs
Airports that list it on their own website
These airports include this airline in the carrier list on their official website.
Other airports in its network
Route network according to OpenFlights (open route database). It may not reflect recent schedule changes.
Data from Wikidata (CC0) · summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Cite
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This page was last updated on October 7, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 7). Batik Air. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/batik-air
MLA
“Batik Air.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 7 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airline/batik-air. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Batik Air.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 7, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/batik-air.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Batik Air. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/batik-air (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airline_batik_air,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Batik Air}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-07},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/batik-air},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/batik-air}},
urldate = {2026-10-16},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/batik-air |title=Batik Air |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-07 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}Types it operates · 38 aircraft · 3 models
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