How it started
Awair (1999–2005)
The airline was established as Awair (Air Wagon International) in 1999 by then-President of Indonesia Abdurrahman Wahid, who was chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Muslim organisation in Indonesia. Wahid had a 40% stake in the airline which he relinquished after being elected president of Indonesia in late October 1999. The airline started operations on 22 June 2000 with Airbus A300, A310 and A320 aircraft, but all flights were suspended in March 2002. Awair restarted operating domestically within Indonesia as an associate of AirAsia in January 2005.
Indonesia AirAsia
On 1 December 2005, Awair changed its name to Indonesia AirAsia in line with other AirAsia branded airlines in the region. AirAsia Berhad has a 49% share in the airline, with Fersindo Nusaperkasa owning 51%. Indonesia's laws disallow majority foreign ownership on domestic civil aviation operations.
The airline, along with many others in Indonesia, was previously banned from flying to the EU. However, its ban was lifted in July 2010, together with Batavia Air. In 2011, the company appointed CIMB Securities Indonesia and Credit Suisse Securities Indonesia as joint-lead underwriters for the 20 percent IPO in the fourth quarter of that year.
Batavia Air acquisition (2012–2013)
From Wikipedia’s article on Indonesia AirAsia, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2