Firefly is a low cost airline and a full subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines. It claims to be the first community airline in Malaysia. Its base of operations and hub is now in Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang, Selangor. This replaces Penang International Airport which is now becoming the secondary airport for Firefly. The airline's first flight was on April 3, 2007 from Penang to Kota Bharu.
Management and operation
Even though Firefly is 100% owned by Malaysia Airlines, it has a separate management, which is by FlyFirefly Sdn.Bhd. The focus of Firefly is to give a services in the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand growth triangle.
Idris Jala, Malaysia Airlines' managing director, speaking at a business briefing and launch of the new airline’s logo on the March 16, 2007, said Firefly would work with MAS in breaking new ground and realising a core network over the next five years. The core network would include markets like North America, South America and South Africa.[1]
There is speculation that in further developing Firefly, Malaysian Airlines may follow the SilkAir model (the airline set up by Singapore Airlines to fly its narrow-bodied fleet) and Dragonair model (Cathay Pacific's subsidiary).[citations needed]
Destinations
Domestic Firefly route map at January 2008
Firefly flies from two hubs, Penang and Subang in Kuala Lumpur. The domestic flights from Penang are Langkawi, Kota Bharu, Subang, Kuala Terengganu and Kuantan 14 times weekly as well as to Koh Samui and Phuket in Thailand seven times weekly. The flights out of Subang are Penang, Langkawi, Johor Bahru and Kota Bharu, Koh Samui in Thailand and Pekanbaru in Indonesia. However, Firefly announced on March 8, 2009 that flights from Penang to Kuala Terengganu, Kota Bharu, Koh Samui and Kuantan have been temporarily suspended.[2]
Indonesia
Malaysia
Singapore
Thailand
Future Destinations
The airline is planning to use Sultan Azlan Shah Airport in Ipoh and Batu Berendam Airport in Melaka to expand their base. New routes there are under planning are Subang-Bengkulu, Subang-Jambi, Subang-Pangkal Pinang,Penang-Krabi and Penang-Huahin.[3]
The airline has also been granted rights to fly from Singapore to Subang, Penang, Kuantan, Terengganu, Ipoh & Malacca.[4]
Flight Numbers
Firefly's flight numbers are allocated according to geographical region. Code-share flights bear different digits in the third column to indicate different partners.
Firefly Flight Numbers
| Band Range |
Market |
| FY 1000 - FY 1999 |
Domestic : From Penang (excluding to Subang) |
| FY 2000 - FY 2999 |
Domestic : From Subang (including to Penang) |
| FY 3400 - FY 3499 |
Indonesia |
| FY 3500 - FY 3599 |
Singapore |
| FY 3600 - FY 3699 |
Thailand |
| FY 6000 - FY 6999 |
Additional flights |
Fleet
The Firefly fleet consists of the following aircraft:
Firefly Fleet
| Aircraft |
In fleet |
Order |
Option |
Seat Configuration |
Routes |
Notes |
| ATR 72-500 |
6 |
3 |
10 |
72 |
Domestic-Regional short haul |
Replacing : Fokker 50 |
Firefly has started operations with two 50-seater Fokker F50 planes.
Firefly expand its operation on 29 October 2007 from Penang to Subang. Firefly have also taken delivery of a third leased Fokker F50 aircraft to expand its services.
On June 26, 2007, MAS signed an agreement for the acquisition of 10 ATR 72-500 aircraft with options of 10 more which has been exercised, to replace the F50[5]. The aircraft will start to arrive from August 2008 [6], with five planes in 2008, five in 2009, four in 2010 and the rest in 2011 [7]. The first ATR 72 arrived on 11 Aug 2008; Firefly has replaced all of their Fokker 50 by the end of 2008.[8]
References
- Karim, F.N., "Firefly to start services April 2", Business Times, March 15, 2006
- Yeow, J. & Francis, I., "MAS to launch Firefly", The Sun, March 15, 2006
External links
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