Firefly celebrates fifth year with expansion plans and more planes and revival of jet operation

[Robert 0]

I love firefly !

My first choice to Singapore , from subang.

Best

 

I try and avoid them, over priced, slow, cramped, noisy, bumpy not lastly often late.

[Ikman Ikreza 0]

I try and avoid them, over priced, slow, cramped, noisy, bumpy not lastly often late.

 

Maybe you are not lucky that day facing these problems but since I flew FY it's never happened to me.

[affendi osman 0]

I try and avoid them, over priced, slow, cramped, noisy, bumpy not lastly often late.

 

Cramped? Small plane is always cramped. Fly widebodies to avoid cramped cabin.

 

Bumpy? Small plane flies at lower altitude where the bumpy sensations can be easily felt! Fly widebodies to avoid bumpy plane

 

Slow? It is an ATR, propeller plane! Fly widebodies for jet experience. Faster....

 

Over priced? LCY airport is served by propellers plane, and some small jet engined plane. Since the location is nearer to the city centre, the price is slightly expensive compared to the outer ring airport. Want to fly cheap airlines? Go to KLIA, or LCCT.

 

Noisy? ATR is not that noisy.....but hey, it is a propeller thing. Way of avoiding it? Fly jet engined plane!

 

Often late, so far my personal experience with FY, they are on time. Maybe because of the negativeness you've thrown makes you feel uncomfortable to fly with them.

[Cheng Long 0]

Firefly cramped?? Spacious seat and good legroom as I can remember.

[Naim 6]

Did 4x FY flights in 6 days: SZB-PEN-SZB-KBR-SZB. All punctual and thrilling, esp. with bad weather out of SZB and KBR. Great stuff!

[Mushrif A 3]

Firefly cramped?? Spacious seat and good legroom as I can remember.

 

Not as good as MASwings'.

[BC Tam 2]

..... and thrilling, esp. with bad weather out of SZB and KBR. Great stuff!

Doc,

Why do I get this impression of you giving the thumbs up and grinning ear to ear ala Mr Bean style whilst fellow passengers are fervently praying for safe passage ?!

[Naim 6]

Doc,

Why do I get this impression of you giving the thumbs up and grinning ear to ear ala Mr Bean style whilst fellow passengers are fervently praying for safe passage ?!

 

Sure one. I even had time to video the ride (who says it's noisy?), see http://www.malaysianwings.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=18292

[dean hizudy 0]

different people will have different experience...

[Robert 0]

Cramped? Small plane is always cramped. Fly widebodies to avoid cramped cabin.

 

Bumpy? Small plane flies at lower altitude where the bumpy sensations can be easily felt! Fly widebodies to avoid bumpy plane

 

Slow? It is an ATR, propeller plane! Fly widebodies for jet experience. Faster....

 

Over priced? LCY airport is served by propellers plane, and some small jet engined plane. Since the location is nearer to the city centre, the price is slightly expensive compared to the outer ring airport. Want to fly cheap airlines? Go to KLIA, or LCCT.

 

Noisy? ATR is not that noisy.....but hey, it is a propeller thing. Way of avoiding it? Fly jet engined plane!

 

Often late, so far my personal experience with FY, they are on time. Maybe because of the negativeness you've thrown makes you feel uncomfortable to fly with them.

 

I’ve flown them several time on the SZB-SIN sector as part of my weekly commute from KL -Singapore . Wide body planes are hard to come by now on that route so an A320 or 738 is ok.

 

Yes they are cramped and just like LCC’s my knees are squashed against the seat in front and if there is anybody next to me that its rather close for comfort. MI or MH provides better leg room.

 

I’m well aware that it fly’s at a lower altitude and unless the weather is near perfect its bumpy.

 

The slowness isn’t really an issue on the SIN trips but they are slower and which pretty much writes off any upside from teh short trip to the airport.

 

Turbo props are supposed to be cheaper to run and SZB is hardly a convenient city airport with the highways jammed in peak hours and no train service. I find that the costs are usually on par with jets or more yet it’s an inferior product.

 

Ok I agree that they are not that noisy but the drone of the props is notable.

 

I must be unlucky that most of the time the flights are late although less than 1 hour.

 

Perhaps I am negative because other than a one off to experience a turbo prop and unless you live very near SZB I don’t see the attraction.

[affendi osman 0]

I’ve flown them several time on the SZB-SIN sector as part of my weekly commute from KL -Singapore . Wide body planes are hard to come by now on that route so an A320 or 738 is ok.

 

Yes they are cramped and just like LCC’s my knees are squashed against the seat in front and if there is anybody next to me that its rather close for comfort. MI or MH provides better leg room.

 

I’m well aware that it fly’s at a lower altitude and unless the weather is near perfect its bumpy.

 

The slowness isn’t really an issue on the SIN trips but they are slower and which pretty much writes off any upside from teh short trip to the airport.

 

Turbo props are supposed to be cheaper to run and SZB is hardly a convenient city airport with the highways jammed in peak hours and no train service. I find that the costs are usually on par with jets or more yet it’s an inferior product.

 

Ok I agree that they are not that noisy but the drone of the props is notable.

 

I must be unlucky that most of the time the flights are late although less than 1 hour.

 

Perhaps I am negative because other than a one off to experience a turbo prop and unless you live very near SZB I don’t see the attraction.

 

Try J8, and you will know how comfort FY is

 

 

Not as good as MASwings'.

 

True indeed, but FY and MASWings are in different league?

[V Wong 0]

I love FY. If FY ply a particular domestic route, it is my first choice due to ease of travel and pretty comfortable flight; even over MH J ...

[JingKai Seah 0]

I've been flying FY for the SZB - BTH route and I must say it is superb.. the experience

Although they are slower because its a turboprop, but it is comfortable enough for me compared to AK's jet service~

[khairuddin abu hanifah 0]

Firefly All Geared Up For 2013 Expansion

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 (Bernama) -- Firefly is all geared up with its expansion plans in place as 2013 crawled in with brand new aircraft and increasing weekly flights.

Following the recent signing of an agreement between its parent company Malaysia Airlines and ATR, the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer, Firefly will gradually take on 20 brand new ATR 72-600s, beginning in June this year.

The additional enhanced series of turboprop planes will be used to complement the growing demand for Firefly's services with newly added frequencies on its popular routes and bloomimg socio-economic destinations while monitoring potential new routes.

Firefly will also be increasing its 28 weekly flights between Subang and Johor Baharu to 38 flights with effect from Feb 19, 2013.

"With the progression of a new airport and new player, we believe this will be an interesting and aggressive year for the industry," Firefly chief executive officer Ignatius Ong said in a statement Monday.

Firefly currently flies to domestic and regional destinations in the Asean network serving more than 25 destinations within Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

-- BERNAMA

[khairuddin abu hanifah 0]

Firefly To Increase Subang-Johor Bahru Flights To 38 Weekly

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 (Bernama) -- Firefly will be increasing its current 28 weekly flights between Subang-Johor Bahru to 35 weekly (5 times daily), effective Feb 4, and subsequently to 38 flights weekly from Feb 18 onwards.

The additional frequencies are due to among others, an increase in demand by customers planning to travel during the upcoming Chinese New Year holidays, specifically for reunions and leisure.

In celebrating its fleet expansion and added frequencies, Firefly is offering an all-in, one way promotion, starting from RM 35 to its domestic and regional destinations.

Booking starts from now to Jan 27, 2013, for travel between Jan 21, 2013 and March 29, 2014.

"With the booming Iskandar Malaysia projects and its latest attractions, Legoland and Puteri Harbour Family Theme Park, it is no surprise that Firefly's service will be in greater demand," Firefly's Chief Executive Officer, Ignatius Ong said in a statement today.

He also said the airline had captured the business travellers, with almost 70 per cent of customers comprising them.

Ong said Johor is a vital part of Firefly's growth plan as its target market expands to mass passengers from the southern region, Singapore, Batam, and transit passengers at Senai International Airport.

The introduction of Firefly's added services also underlines the airline's commitment to develop Johor Bahru as a potential southern hub, by offering more travel options and contributing significantly to the development of commerce opportunities.

-- BERNAMA

[alberttky 0]

SUBANG: After having incurred losses due to its short-lived jet operations, Firefly turned the corner last year. And now, to enhance its position in the marketplace before the Asean skies open for competition, the community airline is set to raise loads and sustain profitability.

 

Energising its product offering and targeting leisure travellers is a good start towards this end.

 

Firefly aims to raise average passenger loads by 5% to 75% this year. It plans to carry 1.8 million passengers by year-end and about two million by June, 2014, as compared to the 1.6 million carried in 2012.

 

Developing a new hub in Johor Baru is also high on its agenda.

 

The carrier is also on track to add about 10% new capacity to its system this year by taking delivery of two of the 20 new ATR 72-600 it had ordered in December.

 

“We are profitable. In fact, the turboprops have always been profitable,''chief executive officer Ignatius Ong told StarBiz in an interview.

 

However, he would not elaborate on the profit figures for 2012. But prior to deploying jets for its Sarawak and Sabah operations in 2010, the airline was said to have earned about RM10mil in net profit.

 

The jet operations, however, flew it into the red territory rather quickly.

 

Ong does not see the airline reviving its jet operations any time soon, as the focus is on the turboprops to drive its point-to-point operations.

 

The 20 ATRs, costing some RM1.7bil, will be self-funded, with the first delivery expected in June and the second in October. Several more are expected to land in 2014.

 

The first delivery will be used to add frequencies, especially to Johor Baru and Penang, while the second is to be hubbed in Johor Baru, where it intends to ply routes such as Sumatra and Northern Java which fall within the two-hour radius category.

 

Firefly currently flies to domestic and regional destinations in the Asean network, serving more than 25 destinations within Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. It operates from its base in Subang and has a hub in Penang. A fourth hub is planned for the East Coast.

 

More daily flights to Penang, Johor Baru and the East Coast areas which Ong felt had “unfulfilled demand'' are in the planning.

 

The need to energise the product comes after six years of its inception. Ong said the need was there to refresh the airline, be it for its product or branding. Even a change in the crew's uniform is in the offing.

 

However, he remained mum on the cost of the refreshing exercise.

 

For now, most of Firefly's passengers were business travellers, and entry into the leisure market was vital as it would give the airline a bigger addressable market, said Ong.

 

“We have to look at ways to stimulate demand. We need to add frequencies and even one or two destinations, offer more seats on promotional fares, fortify the brand and create excitement as we want more people to fly with us.

 

“We also need to create awareness among leisure travellers that we fly out of Subang, as many do not know this,'' he noted.

 

As part of its refreshed image, the airline has made some changes to its website for a better customer booking experience, as most of its sales is done online, also providing connectivity to all devices like tablets and smartphones.

 

Firefly is a wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines (MAS), the latter of which is expected to report a loss for 2012. Analysts, however, expect MAS to turn the corner this year.

 

Now that Firefly is profitable again, will it eventually be slated for a listing? Ong said: “We would not say never, but not in the next two years. For now, we need to fortify the brand.''

 

Firefly's edge is that it operates out of Subang, but since it uses turboprop, it can only fly short distances.

 

However, Ong believes that by providing a seamless experience for its travellers and remaining innovative, there is a huge market for point-to-point traffic that prefers fast and easy connectivity, and Subang serves precisely that need. It is just a matter of reaching out to a wider population.

 

The airline, according to Ong, also has a very low-cost base “and we are always looking at ways to reduce cost and bring down our turnaround time, which is currently about 20 minutes. And while our fuel consumption is 30% lower than jets, we will set the right fares to ensure our loads grow (though our fares are competitive now).''

 

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/1/25/business/12618243&sec=business

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Firefly's edge is that it operates out of Subang, but since it uses turboprop, it can only fly short distances.

 

I wouldn't call the ATR-72's max range of 1324 km short!

[Sharil Abdul Rahman 0]

 

I wouldn't call the ATR-72's max range of 1324 km short!

They feel kalau bukan jet and can reach China, its short kot.