JAKARTA • Indonesia's Lion Air is set to launch an initial public offering (IPO), according to a company spokesman, in a listing that could reportedly raise up to US$1 billion (S$1.4 billion) - one of the country's biggest-ever share sales.

The fund raising by South-east Asia's largest airline comes after it suffered a recent customer data leak and close to the first anniversary of a high-profile crash.

"It is true that Lion Air will proceed with an IPO," spokesman Danang Prihantoro said. "The funds will be used to strengthen the company's financial structure."

He declined to comment on a timeline for the listing or how much the firm planned to raise.

Citing an unnamed source, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday that Lion Air - which has postponed a public listing several times in the past - could raise as much as US$1 billion.

That would make it Indonesia's third-biggest IPO on record, according to Bloomberg data.

Last month, Lion Air said it suffered a data leak that reportedly affected millions of customers.

Two of the airline's subsidiaries, Malaysia-based Malindo Air and Thai Lion Air, acknowledged that passenger data may have been stolen from remote servers operated by Amazon.

All 189 people aboard a Lion Air-operated Boeing 737 Max vanished from radar about 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta last October, slamming into the Java Sea moments after pilots asked to return to the capital.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE