Hong Kong (CNN) -- The largest single aviation purchase in Boeing's 94-year history was pulled off today by Lion Air. Lion who? If you have never heard of Lion Air, you're not alone. Unless you speak Bahasa Indonesia and have traveled around the vast array of islands that make up the world's most populous Muslim nation, there is no reason why you should have. With U.S. President Barack Obama watching on the sidelines of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) economic summit in Bali, Lion Air signed a deal for 230 Boeing planes totaling $21.7 billion, with the first delivery in 2017 -- part of the airline's plan to buy 408 new planes at $37.7 billion, Lion Air CEO Rusdy Kirana told CNN.
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Lion Air signed a record deal for 230 Boeing planes totaling $21.7 billion in Bali
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The purchase is to feed the growing appetite for air travel in the world's fourth largest country
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While developed economies still reel from the financial crisis, Indonesia's economy grows
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"As Indonesia's middle class increases in number, more and more people will be traveling"
"From east to west, @placeholder spans 5,000 miles and we have 230 million (people) and not enough aircraft to meet the growth of the number of passengers," Kirana said.
And as fortunes rise on the archipelago, many more western companies will try to find a place at @placeholder's table.