Indonesia's Lion Air Group announced on Tuesday a firm order to buy 50 Boeing 737 MAX 10 narrowbody jets worth $6.24b and said it plans to place a provisional order for Boeing 787 widebody jets in the next few weeks. Lion Air, which already has offshoots in Malaysia and Thailand, also plans to establish a new airline in a Southeast Asian country this year, co-founder Rusdi Kirana said. He declined to elaborate on the number of 787s to be ordered or in which country the new airline would be established. An MOU for the purchase of 787s would be announced in "two to three weeks", he said. His comments came after the privately owned company earlier in the day confirmed the purchase of the 50 Boeing 737 MAX 10 jets by announcing a firm order. The jets are worth $6.24b at list prices. The rapidly expanding carrier had in June 2017 placed a provisional order for the jets. Kirana said the Indonesian government's infrastructure expansion, which included airports, was fuelling Lion's demand for more aircraft.<br/>
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The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (Gapki) and Lion Air Group signed an agreement on Tuesday to carry out joint research to develop bio aviation turbine fuel (bioavtur). “This agreement is opening the way to reduce the dependency of aviation companies on fossil fuels and to absorb palm oil produced in this country,” said Lion Air Group founder Rusdi Kirana, who was also Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia, after attending the signing ceremony in Jakarta on Tuesday. Rusdi said the use of bioavtur would not only help boost the economy but would also help improve the welfare of oil palm farmers. Meanwhile, Gapki advisory council member Franky O. Widjaja welcomed the agreement, saying that the use of bioavtur would help develop the downstream palm oil business. The government plans to use 3% bioavtur this year.<br/>
Norwegian Air Shuttle has shelved flights between Europe and Canada until next year after delivery delays afflicting Boeing 737 Max narrow-body jets left too little time to market the planned routes. Services won’t now begin until spring 2019 following a slippage of about four weeks in the handover of two 737s, Norwegian Air CEO Bjorn Kjos said. Ticket sales had been authorized to start last month with flights due from July 23, according to the Canadian Transportation Agency. “We got a slight delay, not much, but it gave us a month shorter pre-sale period,” Kjos said, adding that the hitch stems from issues with 737 engines made by the CFM International venture of General Electric and France’s Safran. The setback comes as Norwegian seeks to deploy 737s in an unorthodox trans-Atlantic role alongside the larger Boeing 787.<br/>
AirAsia is waiving flight change fees for bookings where the travel date falls on May 9, polling day for the 14th general election. The airline said the offer only applies to Malaysian citizens and must be done within 10 days of April 10, when the Electoral Commission announced the polling day. <br/>
Jeju Air is being criticized for a seven-hour delay on a flight to Da Nang, Vietnam, Saturday, after the air crew found fault with electronic equipment on board hours into the flight and returned to Incheon. The plane took off for Vietnam at 10:40 p.m. from Incheon International Airport and had almost reached Taiwan when the pilot discovered the electrical problem. Instead of landing at the nearest airport in Taipei, the pilot decided to turn around and go all the way back to Incheon. Back in Korea, passengers had to wait two more hours for the next flight and finally arrived at Da Nang at 2:40 a.m. in the morning on Sunday. Jeju Air, meanwhile, claimed it found no fault with the aircraft during its routine preflight maintenance. It said it is currently investigating the cause of the sudden electronic problem. Customers became angry when the LCC decided to compensate them only 50,000 won ($46.75) per person for the flight delay. The FTC standard suggests Jeju Air pay each passenger between $300 and $600 for delaying a flight by over four hours. <br/>