Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian budget carrier Adam Air said Thursday it plans to replace its fleet of Boeing 737s with Airbus 320s from next year.
Adam Air sales director Gugi Pringwa Saputra said the additional aircraft would enable the company to open new routes.
"We will operate 40 Airbus planes in stages starting in 2008 to meet the demand of passengers for a more convenient and comfortable flight," Saputra told AFP.
He said the company was also examining the possibility of adding flights to a number of areas in eastern Indonesia. He declined to give further details of the switch to European maker Airbus.
An Adam Air Boeing 737-400 carrying 96 passengers and six crew went missing halfway through a flight from Surabaya on the central island of Java to Manado on Sulawesi on January 1.
Indonesian and US Navy ships were Thursday continuing to search for wreckage of the plane in the seas off western Sulawesi.
Privately-owned Adam Air began operations in 2003 and serves mostly domestic routes, with Singapore and Malaysia's Penang its only international destinations.
The company is a leading low-cost carrier in the competitive Indonesian market, marketing itself as a "boutique airline" between traditional budget firms and regular airlines.
According to Adam Air's website, the carrier had 19 Boeing 737 jets in its fleet as of January 2006.
Company president director Adam Suherman said in November the carrier would concentrate on its domestic market, which is still largely untapped.
The airline expects to handle 11 million passengers in 2007, up from an estimated seven million in 2006.
Public and private Indonesian airlines have been repeatedly criticised over their poor safety records, repeated delays and bad management.
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