Wings Air (Indonesia) (IW, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) has parked thirty ATR turboprops (out of 73) due to high import duties, especially for sourcing aircraft spare parts, according to Daniel Putut Kuncoro, the president director of Lion Air Group.
First reported by the Indonesian newspaper Kompas, several ATRs are currently under maintenance or do not have engines. The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Wings Air has a fleet of seventy-three ATR - Avions de Transport Régional turboprops, including nineteen ATR72-500s (of which seven are inactive), and fifty-four ATR72-600s (of which twenty-three are inactive).
Due to high operational costs, the Lion Air Group has chosen to move some of its planes to other less-restrictive, cheaper countries, such as Malaysia and Thailand, where the parent entity has Batik Air Malaysia (OD, Kuala Lumpur International) and Thai Lion Air (SL, Bangkok Don Mueang) as subsidiaries. "The operational costs there are cheaper than flying in Indonesia," said Daniel during a focus group discussion held by the daily newspaper.
ch-aviation has reached out to Lion Air Group for comment.
Lion Air Group Commercial Director Saleh Alatas urged the Indonesian authorities to relax the import taxes on aircraft spare parts, adding that there are neighbouring countries with zero costs for importing parts because aviation is seen as a backbone of the economy.
