KUALA LUMPUR: At this travel agency in Kuala Lumpur, there are smiles on the faces of potential travelers as they look at the new routes being offered by Indonesia's Lion Air, which launched a new budget carrier based in Malaysia. “We won't be able to fly, but they have given us some prices and I am simply shocked at how low it is,” said Islam Ahmad, an Indonesian worker based in Malaysia. “It could be really great to be able to travel at lower prices.” On Tuesday, Lion Air announced it was setting up the new low-cost airline in Malaysia in an effort to challenge regional giant AirAsia as Southeast Asia's top cheap flight operator. The new carrier, to be called Malindo Airways, will begin flights between Indonesia and Malaysia in May with a fleet of 12 Boeing 727 aircraft which it said it plans to expand to 100 planes within a decade, Lion Air President Rusdi Kirana told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. The move is the latest in a burgeoning rivalry between Lion Air and Malaysia-based AirAsia as strong economic growth and rising incomes spur rapid passenger growth among Asian low-cost carriers, helping to shield Western planemakers from the malaise gripping developed economies. “Malindo is an opportunity to tap a robust market that is right for the entry of a new low-cost carrier,” Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak said at the launch event. For travelers it could bring forth new options for travel across the region and help push down flight costs even further.
