Firefly (airline)

Last updated

Firefly
Firefly Logo.svg
IATA ICAO Callsign
FYFFMFIREFLY
Founded16 March 2007;17 years ago (2007-03-16)
Commenced operations3 April 2007;17 years ago (2007-04-03)
Hubs
Secondary hubs Kota Kinabalu
Focus cities Kuching
Fleet size15
Destinations12
Parent company Malaysia Airlines
Headquarters Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Website www.fireflyz.com.my

Firefly (stylised as firefly) is a low-cost carrier subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines that offers flights within Malaysia, as well as to Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. [1] Firefly operates from its main hub at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang and Penang International Airport, as well as its secondary hub at Kota Kinabalu International Airport. The airline's first flight was on 3 April 2007, from Penang to Kota Bharu. The company slogan is Beyond Convenience.

Contents

Destinations

Firefly offers domestic flights from Penang to Langkawi, Kota Bharu, Subang, and to the international destinations Changi in Singapore, Banda Aceh in Indonesia, and Phuket and Bangkok (Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi) in Thailand. Its flights from Subang serve Penang, Langkawi, Alor Setar, Johor Bahru, Kuala Terengganu, Kota Bharu and Seletar and Changi in Singapore.

The airline briefly operated jet aircraft in 2011, offering flights to Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Sandakan and Sibu from Kuala Lumpur International Airport and internationally to Bandung and Surabaya via Johor Bahru. Acting as a low-cost arm for Malaysia Airlines, the airline planned to include destinations in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, China, India and Taiwan by 2015. [2]

Domestically, the airline previously served an extensive intra-peninsula connection from its turboprop secondary hub in Penang and Johor Bahru to most major cities in Peninsular Malaysia. Nonetheless, following the major restructuring of the company, the airline decided to axe its jet operations by the end of 2011 and halt its planned turboprop expansion to Bangkok–Don Mueang (via Kota Bharu), [3] Bengkulu, Jambi and Pangkal Pinang.

Firefly operates scheduled passenger flights from Singapore's Seletar Airport since 2019 and Changi Airport since March 2023, flying to its Subang hub using turboprop aircraft. [4] [5] In the same year, the airline announced its interest to commence a new operation to Betong Airport in Thailand from Kuala Lumpur-Subang. [6] [7] [8]

In October 2020, the company has announced the resumption of its jet service from January 2021. Concentrating secondary routes from Penang International Airport, the airline selected Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Johor Bahru as its pioneer destinations. In March 2022, Firefly announced that they will be flying from Penang to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching using their B737-800 aircraft starting April 2022. On 11 April 2022, Firefly had its B737-800 inaugural passenger flight from Johor to Penang.

Other than that, Firefly said they also have plans to make Kota Kinabalu International Airport their secondary hub by 2023. [9]

From May 2023, Firefly has begun to operate intra-Borneo jet services previously operated by its parent company Malaysia Airlines. Flights from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching, Tawau and Sandakan will be operated by their fleet of single-class B737-800s, with frequencies all increasing to once-daily return services (from 2-5x weekly before). [10] The move is believed to be part of efforts to counter the dominant position held by low-cost carrier AirAsia. [11]

The Airline has codeshare services with its subsidiary Malaysia Airlines with capability to collect Enrich frequent flyer points along with MH Flypas being redeemable on selected firefly flights. [12]

In the past, the airline has operated scheduled passenger services to Ipoh, Kerteh, Kuantan, Malacca, Sandakan and Sibu in Malaysia; Bandung, Batam, Padang and Pekanbaru in Indonesia; and Hat Yai, Hua Hin and Koh Samui in Thailand.

CountryCityAirportNotesRefs
China Nanjing Nanjing Lukou International Airport Charter [13]
Indonesia Banda Aceh Sultan Iskandar Muda International Airport
Medan Kualanamu International Airport
Malaysia Alor Setar Sultan Abdul Halim Airport
Johor Bahru Senai International Airport [14] [15] [16]
Kota Bharu Sultan Ismail Petra Airport [17]
Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu International Airport Secondary hub
Kuala Lumpur Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport Hub [18]
Kuala Terengganu Sultan Mahmud Airport
Kuantan Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Airport [19]
Kuching Kuching International Airport Focus city
Langkawi Langkawi International Airport
Miri Miri Airport
Sandakan Sandakan Airport
Penang Penang International Airport Hub
Tawau Tawau Airport
Singapore Singapore Changi Airport [20]
Seletar Airport
Thailand Bangkok Don Mueang International Airport
Suvarnabhumi Airport
Phuket Phuket International Airport

Fleet

Current fleet

As of May 2023, Firefly operates the following aircraft: [21]

Firefly's current livery on the Boeing 737-800 Firefly B737-800.jpg
Firefly's current livery on the Boeing 737-800
Firefly Fleet
AircraftIn ServiceOrdersPassengersNotes
ATR 72-500 9—72
Boeing 737-800 53189Transferred from Malaysia Airlines.
Total143

Cabin

Firefly current seat installed on the Boeing 737-800 Firefly Seats.jpg
Firefly current seat installed on the Boeing 737-800

Firefly ATR-72 cabin seat is equipped with very basic legroom pitch of 30inch. On the Boeing 737-800 firefly has introduced slimline seats of the Safran z110i and comes equipped with USB A and C charging ports.

Former fleet

Former Firefly 9M-FZA Boeing 737-400 OM-GTC (15787039575).jpg
Former Firefly 9M-FZA Boeing 737-400
Firefly former fleet
AircraftTotalIntroducedRetiredNotes
ATR 72-500 320082020
ATR 72-600 820132016
Boeing 737-400 220112014
Boeing 737-800 620112011
Fokker F50 320072009

Fleet history

Firefly ATR 72-500 9M-FYD ATR 72-212A Firefly (8265964333).jpg
Firefly ATR 72-500
Former Firefly Boeing 737-800 Firefly B737-8Q8 (9M-FFB) on tow.jpg
Former Firefly Boeing 737-800

A revival of the airline's route was commenced in 2021, now operated via Penang International Airport as its main hub.

Firefly started operations with two 50-seater Fokker 50 aircraft. It also took delivery of a third leased Fokker 50 aircraft to expand its services.

On 26 June 2007, Malaysia Airlines signed an agreement for the acquisition of ten ATR 72-500 aircraft with options for ten more (which was exercised), to replace the Fokker 50s. [22] The aircraft started to arrive from 11 August 2008, [23] with five delivered in 2008, five in 2009, four in 2010 and the rest in 2011. [24] All Fokker F50s retired by the end of 2008.

On 25 August 2010, Firefly announced that it would take up four ATR 72s in the option clause of the purchase agreement. [25] On 8 November 2010, Firefly announced an order for 30 Boeing 737-800 aircraft from year-end to 2015 as part of its expansion into east Malaysia initially, and into regional markets in the future. Firefly's first Boeing 737-800 arrived in December 2010 and began its operations on 15 January 2011. [26] [27]

On 16 August 2011, Firefly announced that it would only operate the ATR aircraft from Subang and Penang, and cease its Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737-400 flights. [28] Jet operations were discontinued in accordance with a restructuring-of-services agreement made between Malaysia Airlines (Firefly's parent company) and AirAsia. On 16 September 2011, Firefly ceased the Johor Bahru – Kuching route. Other Boeing 737 services, including Kuala Lumpur – Kuching, Kuala Lumpur – Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur – Jakarta, were transferred to Malaysia Airlines in October 2011. [29] Its 2 remaining Boeing 737-400 were instead kept under its charter division until 2014. [30] [31]

On 18 December 2012, MASwings' parent company, Malaysia Airlines, ordered 36 ATR 72-600s for its subsidiaries. Twenty of the ordered aircraft will be delivered to Firefly while the remaining sixteen will enter service with MASwings. However with the ongoing contract dispute with the Ministry of transport Malaysia and MASwings on the usage of the new aircraft for RAS subsidies along with the financial turmoil parent company Malaysia Airlines was facing in 2015, subsequent pending deliveries for the ATR72-600 were halted and cancelled. Firefly also retired all 8 of its newly delivered ATR72-600 by 2016 as most of its expansion plans were put on hold. [32]

In October 2020, the Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) announced that the airline would recommence its jet operations in the first quarter of 2021. There will be ten jets in the fleet. [33]

In April 2022, Firefly resumed jet aircraft operation with the Boeing 737-800 and has setup Penang and Kota Kinabalu to be their hub of operation for the aircraft fleet.

Related Research Articles

Malaysia Airlines Berhad, formerly known as Malaysian Airline System, and branded as Malaysia Airlines, is the flag carrier of Malaysia and a member of the Oneworld airline alliance. The company headquarters are at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. In August 2014, the Malaysian government's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional—which then owned 69.37% of the airline—announced its intention to purchase the remaining ownership from minority shareholders and delist the airline from Malaysia's stock exchange, thereby renationalising the airline. It operates primarily from its main hub Kuala Lumpur International Airport to destinations throughout Asia, Oceania and Europe, as well as its secondary hub Kota Kinabalu International Airport to Taipei and Tokyo (Narita).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport</span> Airport in Subang, Selangor, Malaysia

Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, , often called Subang Airport or Subang Skypark, is an airport located in Subang, Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malaysia–Singapore Airlines</span> Defunct national airline of Malaysia and Singapore (1966–1972)

Malaysia–Singapore Airlines was the flag carrier of Malaysia and Singapore. It came into being in 1966 as a result of a joint ownership of the airline by the governments of the two countries. It was headquartered at Raffles Place in Singapore.

Berjaya Air Sdn Bhd is an airline with its head office in the Berjaya Hangar of the SkyPark Terminal Building on the property of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor, Malaysia. As of 2018, the airline operates charter flights only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penang International Airport</span> Airport serving Penang, Malaysia

Penang International Airport (PIA) (IATA: PEN, ICAO: WMKP) is an international airport in George Town, the capital city of the Malaysian state of Penang. The airport is located at the southeastern tip of Penang Island, 16 km (9.9 mi) south of the city centre, and serves the country's second largest conurbation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malaysian Airline System Flight 653</span> 1977 aviation hijacking

Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 (MH653) was a scheduled domestic flight from Penang to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, operated by Malaysian Airline System (MAS). On the evening of 4 December 1977, the Boeing 737-200 aircraft flying the service crashed at Tanjung Kupang, Johor, Malaysia, while purportedly being diverted by hijackers to Singapore. It was the first fatal air crash for Malaysia Airlines, with all 93 passengers and 7 crew killed. It is also the deadliest aviation disaster to occur on Malaysian soil. The flight was apparently hijacked as soon as it reached cruise altitude. The circumstances in which the hijacking and subsequent crash occurred remain unsolved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuching International Airport</span> Airport serving Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Kuching International Airport (KIA) is an international airport serving the entire southwestern region of Sarawak, Malaysia. It is located 11 km (6.8 mi) south of Kuching city centre. The airport is colocated with the RMAF Kuching, home to the No. 7 Squadron RMAF.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kota Kinabalu International Airport</span> Airport serving Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) is an international airport in Kota Kinabalu, the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is located approximately 8 km (5.0 mi) southwest of the city centre. In 2019, over 9 million passengers passed through the airport, making it the second busiest airport in Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur International Airport in terms of passenger movements & aircraft movements and the third busiest in terms of cargo handled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tawau Airport</span> Airport in Sabah, Malaysia

Tawau Airport is an airport located 15 nautical miles north east of Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia. It is one of two airports in Sabah with immigration counters for international flights, the other being Kota Kinabalu International Airport. Tawau Airport serves the districts of Tawau, Kunak and Semporna and is the nearest airport to the diving islands of Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai, all of which are located in the latter district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sultan Azlan Shah Airport</span> Commercial airport in Malaysia

Sultan Azlan Shah Airport is an airport that serves Ipoh, a city in the state of Perak, Malaysia. It is located 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away from the city centre. Sultan Azlan Shah Airport has been ranked as the seventh busiest airport in Malaysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sultan Ismail Petra Airport</span> Airport in Kelantan, Malaysia

Sultan Ismail Petra Airport is an airport that operates in Kota Bharu, a city in the state of Kelantan in Malaysia. The airport is named after Ismail Petra of Kelantan, the 28th Sultan of Kelantan, who ruled from 1979 to 2010. The present new terminal was officially opened in September 2002. The 12,000 m2 airport terminal has three aircraft stands, three aerobridges and is able to handle maximum capacity 1.45 million passengers. The airport consists of 9 check-in counters and offers flights between a total of 7 domestic destinations from Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, Firefly, MYAirline, and Batik Air Malaysia. In 2014, this made it the busiest airport in the East Coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asia Cargo Airlines</span> Indonesian cargo airline

Asia Cargo Airlines is an airline that mainly operates cargo aircraft on scheduled routes for contract charters and non-scheduled routes for ad-hoc charters.

Pelangi Airways Sdn Bhd was a regional airline of Malaysia based at Kuala Lumpur Subang Airport. The airline covered secondary routes within Peninsular Malaysia and international flights to Sumatra in Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MASwings</span> Regional airline of Malaysia

MASwings Sdn Bhd is a regional airline operating the Rural Air Services (RAS) in Borneo Malaysia. MASwings is the successors of FlyAsianXpress which operated RAS flights from 2006-2007, itself the successor Malaysia Airlines operation of RAS flights during 1965-2006. Borneo Airways originally operated RAS flights from 1953-1965 within colonial British Borneo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Cargo Airlines</span> Malaysian cargo airline

World Cargo Airlines is a rebranding of the formerly known Pos Asia Cargo Express Sdn Bhd or more popularly known in its abbreviation as “POS ACE". It is an airline company in Malaysia holding an approved AOC for the operation of cargo aircraft under the purview of the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM). Currently, they operate 1 Boeing 737-400F to the East Malaysia cities of Kuching, Miri, Kota Kinabalu, Tawau and Sibu as well as cities in Peninsular Malaysia such as Johor Bahru, Pulau Pinang and Kota Bharu. Its second aircraft, the first Boeing 737-800F in South East Asia, begun operations on 23 March 2021. Its third aircraft, a Boeing 737-300 (9M-WCM) begun operations in November 2021.

Batik Air Malaysia is a Malaysian full-service carrier, an associate carrier of the Indonesian Lion Air Group, with headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. The original name, Malindo, signifies a cooperative pact between Malaysia and Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rayani Air</span> Full-service airline in Malaysia

Rayani Air Sdn. Bhd. was a full-service airline in Malaysia, headquartered in Shah Alam, Selangor, in the Kuala Lumpur metropolitan area. It was the first Sharia-compliant airline in Malaysia and the fourth such airline in the world, after Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA), Saudi Arabian Airlines and Iran Air. No alcoholic beverages or pork were served on board in accordance with Islamic dietary laws and prayers were recited before every flight. It was forced to cease operations after only five months due to management, safety and security issues, pilot strikes, and lack of funding.

MYAirline was a Malaysian low-cost airline founded in 2021. It was headquartered in Subang Jaya, Selangor and primarily operated from KLIA2, the low-cost carrier terminal of KLIA. The airline began its maiden flight on 1 December 2022 to Kuching International Airport. The company slogan was Your Experience Matters.

References

  1. ↑ "Contact Info." Firefly. Retrieved on 21 April 2016. "Principal Office FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd, Lot R-01, 3rd Floor, CITTA Mall, No: 1, Jalan PJU 1A/48, Ara Damansara, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia."
  2. ↑ "Firefly embarks on 5-year expansion drive". Firefly. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  3. ↑ "Kota Bahru BKK Flight Deferred". Firefly. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  4. ↑ "Seletar Airport Prepares for Turboprop Service". aviationweek.com. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  5. ↑ "Singapore 2018: Seletar Airport set for turboprop move - Air & Cosmos - International". Air & Cosmos - International. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "Betong airport runway will be extended, says army chief". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  7. ↑ "Three airlines eyeing Betong airport". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  8. ↑ "Nok Air in talks with authorities on flights to Betong airport". The Nation (Thailand). 27 September 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  9. ↑ "Firefly plans KK hub". Borneo Post Online. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  10. ↑ "Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) Transfers Intra-Borneo Services to Firefly". www.malaysiaairlines.com. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  11. ↑ Chua2023-04-12T03:21:00+01:00, Alfred. "Malaysia Airlines exits intra-east Malaysia operations in 'strategic' route rejig". Flight Global. Retrieved 22 June 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ "MHflypass Malaysia By Malaysia Airlines is Now Available on Codeshare Firefly Flights". www.malaysiaairlines.com. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  13. ↑ "Fireflyz Tawau-Nanjing Charter flight". Trip.Com. 26 November 2023.
  14. ↑ "New Kota Bharu to JB Connections | Firefly Airline". www.fireflyz.com.my. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  15. ↑ SiennyLovesDrawing (20 November 2019). "Firefly Airlines Expands Its Network Route Directly Connecting Johor Bahru & Kota Bharu". Medium. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  16. ↑ "Fabulous Cats Performs at Senai Airport | Firefly Airline".
  17. ↑ "New Kota Bharu to JB Connections | Firefly Airline".
  18. ↑ "Fabulous Cats Performs At Senai Airport | Firefly Airline". www.fireflyz.com.my. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  19. ↑ "Firefly tentatively resumes Penang-Kuantan in NS24". AeroRoutes. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  20. ↑ "Firefly to launch flights from Penang to Changi Airport on March 26 |". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  21. ↑ "Firefly Fleet Details and History". planespotters.net. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  22. ↑ "MAS inks RM62m deal". Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  23. ↑ "Firefly - Get to Know Our Fleet". fireflyz.com.my.
  24. ↑ "Positioning itself - Carving out its own seat". Archived from the original on 22 May 2011.
  25. ↑ Marina Emmunuel. "Firefly to double ATR fleet to fuel expansion". Business Times Malaysia. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
  26. ↑ "Firefly expands with 737-800". Firefly (Malaysia).
  27. ↑ Jeeva. "Firefly plans to expand services and take up 30 B737-800s". The Star (Malaysia).
  28. ↑ Firefly to only run turboprop planes Archived 26 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine The Sun Daily
  29. ↑ flyfireflyz (16 September 2011). "NEWS: FireFly starts cancelling routes to Sarawak".
  30. ↑ "Firefly has commenced a new charter flight to the city of Nanning, in southern China's Guangxi region".
  31. ↑ "Firefly offers direct Kuala Lumpur-Haikou connections via charter division".
  32. ↑ "Firefly revamps to get through tough times".
  33. ↑ "Firefly reverts to jet operations amid broad restructuring".

Bibliography

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