Nam Air on course for late 2013 launch as Srijiwaya expands into China

Nam Air is on course to begin operations by late 2013/early 2014, with the start-up now in the process of obtaining its Air Operators Certificate from the Indonesian Transportation Ministry. 

Nam Air has reportedly been granted rights to as many as 300 routes, twenty of them international and said to include Timor Leste, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Singapore.

During its initial phase of operations, the new airline intends to use B737-500s on lease from parent Sriwijaya Air and to be based out of Denpasar and Lombok. ATR72-600s and Dash 8-400s are also being considered after previous plans by Sriwijaya to order twenty EMB-190s were scrapped when it proved impossible to reach an agreement with Embraer, the Jakarta Post reports. 

In the meantime, Srijiwaya says it will add nine more B737s to its fleet this month in preparation for the launch of new flights to China. Sriwijaya Air is collaborating with the Chinese government to connect Denpasar with Beijing Capital, Hangzhou, Guilin, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chongqing, Shanghai Pudong,Changsha Datuopu, Shenzhen and Nanjing.

Source: CH-Aviation