Xpress Air (IATA code: XN) is an Indonesian airline that focuses its service on the eastern region of Indonesia. The airline is headquartered in Makassar with the Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport serving as its main hub to connect flights from the western region to the eastern region. Since it also provides pioneer flights to small islands and remote areas of West Papua, Xpress Air makes the Domine Eduard Osok Airport in Sorong, Papua its second hub. In addition to regular flights, Xpress Air is also available for charter. The airline's vision and mission are to connect Indonesia’s eastern region, which are rich in unique destinations, natural resources and business potentials, with the rest of the country. The goal is implied in the airline's slogan "Terbanglah Indonesiaku" or "Fly, My Indonesia", which encourages both domestic and International travelers to fly and explore Indonesia’s hidden gems in remote areas, including the eastern region. With its presence, Xpress Air also aims to provide job opportunities for those living in the eastern region. Xpress Air has now become one of the travelers’ reliable flying partners to remote areas in Indonesia. Recently, the airline has opened a new route to Anambas Island in the Riau Islands, Sumatra, becoming the only airline that serves flights from Tanjung Pinang. The new routes has allowed more passengers to explore more areas in the archipelago. All Xpress Air passengers flying on a short flight are entitled to a complimentary snack onboard, while passengers on a flight with a duration of more than 90 minutes will be served with an in-flight meal. Passengers can also enjoy the airline’s in-flight magazine which features famous tourist attractions, top accommodations and enchanting travel destinations in Indonesia. The airline's check-in counters open from two hours to 45 minutes before the time of departure. Passengers are expected to check-in at the counters within two hours before departure. Passengers flying on any Boeing 737 aircraft get a baggage allowance of 20 kg, while those flying on Dornier 328 get a maximum of 10 kg. In addition to their checked baggage, passengers are also allowed to carry a hand luggage not bigger than 50 cm x 32 cm x 16 cm to the cabin of Boeing 737 and not bigger than 25 cm x 15 cm x 8 cm to the cabin of Dornier 328. The cabin baggage must not weigh more than 5 kg for Boeing flights and 2 kg for Dornier.

Established in 23 June 2003 with the name Express Air, the airline has a mission to provide air transportation from Java to the eastern region of Indonesia. It began with a single route that connected Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, with Jayapura, the capital city of Papua. Back then the airline operated with only one unit of Boeing 737. The airline tagline was “It’s Time to Fly”, a call to travelers to explore Eastern Indonesia. During the airline’s first years, there had only been a few airlines that served flights to Eastern Indonesia. Even then, flights would normally only go to main cities, such as Jayapura and Makassar. Determined to open more services to other Indonesian cities in the east, Express Air gradually purchased more airplanes and added the Dornier 328 to its fleet. The airline kept expanding its routes and then began to offer regular flight schedule. By 2005, with six units of aircraft, the airline had managed to connect Jakarta with 24 other cities, mostly in the eastern region, such as Makassar, Jayapura, Sorong, Manokwari, and Ternate. From 2005 to 2010, the airline expanded its routes to smaller airports in such areas as Buli, Wasior, Bau Bau, and Wakatobi. Pioneer flights is the best transportation alternative to reach the remote areas of Eastern Indonesia, such as Maluku and Papua, because the other alternatives, such as the sea and land routes, are longer and more uncertain. Therefore, flights to the region can be costly, especially considering the fact that at the time few airlines offered this route. This led to Express Air’s setback in late 2010 and early 2011. The airline then went a historical transformation in 2012, where it acquired new owners, applied a new management system and offered better services. The new owner set a new ambition for Express Air: to become one of the leading domestic airlines in Indonesia. The new management was also supported by Aero Nusantara Indonesia, a reputable aircraft maintenance provider with decades of experience in aircraft maintenance and repair in Indonesia. The company also partners with bigger airlines, such as Sriwijaya Air and Sky Aviation among others. In the past few years, however, the number of airlines providing flights to the eastern region has increased. Hence, the management of Express Air believed it was necessary to rejuvenate the brand with a new name, logo, tagline and design. Express Air then became Xpress Air, a low-cost domestic airline that offers premium quality service. The first step that the airline took to realize its ambition of offering premium economy flights was reconfiguring the seats in all its Boeing series. The airline reduced the original 120-seat capacity of its Boeing 737-200 to 110 seats, allowing more space for its passengers. The Dornier 368 aircraft was also modified to allow generous baggage storage, large overhead bin racks, and more spacious lavatories. In term of safety, the airline is now listed in Category 1 of the Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority, which means the airline has met the safety standard set by the authority. Moreover, Xpress Air has also followed the 3S+1C or Safety, Security, Service, and Compliance declaration that was signed by the ICAA and the Indonesian Government. Last but not least, to ensure its passengers’ satisfaction and comfort, every flight is served by friendly and attentive flight attendants, who will cater to the passengers’ needs. Complimentary refreshments are also served onboard. With its brand-new image, Xpress Air expanded its routes to include Indonesia’s western region. The airline has opened regular routes to major cities such as Padang in West Sumatra. In line with its vision and mission to embrace and connect all regions of Indonesia, the airline also launched a brand-new slogan: "Terbanglah Indonesiaku" or "Fly, My Indonesia". The tagline serves not only as an invitation to foreign and domestic travelers to explore Indonesia, but also as its own form of encouragement to keep improving and to become a reputable, recognized airline in the world. Nevertheless, the eastern region is still Xpress Air’s topmost priority. The cenderawasih — the bird-of-paradise native of Papua — is now the airline’s logo. Other than being the icon of Papua, the cenderawasih is often regarded as a symbol of gracefulness, maturity and luxury — the concepts that the airline always strives to identify with. The aircraft design also underwent a major change. Gold and brown splashed some color to the aircraft’s plain white background, while the airline’s new logo sat proudly on its tail. With the whole new concept and 12 aircraft in its fleet, Xpress Air was ready to fly passengers to new destinations, even those beyond the country. The new Xpress Air management then decided to place its headquarter in Makassar, South Sulawesi to make it its main hub for flights from the country’s western region to its eastern region, such as Papua, Maluku and their surrounding islands. Soon, the Makassar hub began to serve flights from Sulawesi to eight main destinations, which included Manokwari, Jayapura, Sorong, Ternate, Surabaya, Pontianak, Yogyakarta and Bandung. The response was great, with every flight reaching between 80 – 90 percent seat occupancy. The airline’s dream of going international came true in 2013 when Xpress Air launched a new route to Malaysia with its Boeing 737 units. The route connected Bandung, the capital city of West Java, with Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak. Kuching was chosen as the airline’s first international destination, because the city is a significant business, leisure and medical destination for Indonesians. Prior to the launch of this route, Indonesian passengers had to take a connecting flight from Kuala Lumpur to reach Kuching. Over time, Xpress Air has grown to become a reliable domestic airline in Indonesia. In 2014, it began to serve flights from Pontianak to Kuching, offering more convenience by providing direct flights for business, trade and leisure. Meanwhile, at home, it opened new Palembang – Lampung and Palembang – Pekanbaru routes. In 2016, the Xpress Air management discovered that a destination in the country’s western region might offer a big tourism potential. This new discovery then inspired it to launch a pioneer flight. The newly discovered destination was Anambas Islands, a cluster of small pristine islands in the province of Riau. The islands’ underwater scenery and beaches are so beautiful that CNN named it one of Asia's Top Five Tropical Islands. This beauty is now within reach, partly thanks to Xpress Air’s direct pioneer flight from Tanjung Pinang, the capital of Riau, to Matak Airport in Anambas. The airline serves this route using its Dornier units. The same year also saw the airline’s opening of a new international flight from Pekanbaru to Melaka in Malaysia. Served using the 32-seat Dornier aircraft, the airline flies this route four days a week. Domestically, the Bandung hub opened a new route to Jambi, while the Makassar hub opened routes to cities such as Malang in East Java, Denpasar in Bali and Kaimana in Papua. Today, Xpress Air has 13 aircraft in its fleet. The airline flies to 24 domestic and three international destinations, including Ambon, Bandung, Bau-Bau, Pontianak, Lampung, Gorontalo, Ternate, Fak-Fak, Manokwari, Luwuk, Labuha, Palembang, Pekanbaru, Melaka, Johor Bahru, and others. Xpress Air is planning to add three more aircraft units around the second quarter of the year — two to serve the eastern region and one to serve the western region. The airline is also expecting to open a new pioneer route to Matak and Jemaja Island as part of the Anambas Islands route. As for international flights, the airline's grandeur dream is to be able to establish new routes to India, China and Kuala Lumpur.