Indonesian airline Lion Air became the world's first company to operate Boeing 737-900ER for commercial purposes on May 2 when the plane of the top end in the globally dominant 737 series flew from Jakarta to Makassar.

The 213-seat plane landed safely at the South Sulawesi capital after flying two hours from Jakarta with all seats occupied to mark its first commercial service.

Lion Air spokesman Hasyim Arsal claimed the Jakarta-Makassar flight was the first commercial flight of 737-900ER in the world.

The company will receive 60 737-900ERs until 2011 to replace all the current fleet of 36 planes of various types.

"In the future, Lion Air will no longer compete at the national level, we will go to the regional level," Hasyim was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying.

Chicago-based Boeing has said low-cost carrier Lion Air was among its first customers for the 737-900ER, which it claims has better fuel efficiency, lower operation cost and longer range than its direct competitor Airbus A321.