Indonesia's first budget carrier Lion Air will increase the purchase of Boeing 737-900 to 122 in a new deal to be signed in December, an executive said on Oct. 31.

The purchase is part of the company's ambition to dominate domestic low-cost air transportation and acquire other airlines in several Asian countries.

The sale and purchase deal will be signed with Boeing on the sidelines of the Langkawi Air Show in Malaysia on Dec. 4, Lion Air spokesman Hasyim Arsal Alhabsi told reporters.

Lion already purchased 60 737-900ERs and became the first to operate the plane on a commercial flight after two 90ERs arrived earlier this year.

Hasyim said 60 of the new planes will operate on domestic routes while the rest will be used for the company's global expansion.

Lion plans to acquire airliners in Vietnam, Thailand and Bangladesh, he said without elaborating.

"We have the planes, what we need to do now is to find partners."

The company has announced a plan to open routes to Hong Kong in December and to Perth in January or February 2008.