Firefly (airline)

Firefly is a Malaysian airline operating flights in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. It is a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines and has its head office in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.[1] Firefly operates from its main hub at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang and from its secondary hub at Penang International Airport. The airline's first flight was on 3 April 2007, from Penang to Kota Bharu. The company slogan is Beyond Convenience.

For other uses, see Firefly (disambiguation).

Firefly
IATA ICAO Callsign
FY FFM FIREFLY
Founded16 March 2007 (16 March 2007)
Commenced operations3 April 2007
HubsSultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport
Penang International Airport
Secondary hubsSenai International Airport
Sultan Ismail Petra Airport
Fleet size12
Destinations11
Parent companyMalaysia Airlines
HeadquartersPetaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Key peopleMr. Philip See
Websitewww.fireflyz.com.my

Destinations
Firefly ATR 72–500 at Langkawi Airport

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

Firefly operates the only scheduled passenger flights from Singapore's Seletar Airport, flying to its Subang hub using turboprop aircraft.[2][3]

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. Domestically, the airline previously served an extensive intra-peninsula connection from its secondary hub in Penang to most major cities in Peninsular Malaysia. It discontinued flights to Kerteh, Kuantan, Ipoh and Malacca from Subang and Singapore. It also discontinued services to destinations in Sumatra (Pekanbaru, Medan, Padang, Batam) and to the Thai Peninsula (Koh Samui, Hua Hin, Hat Yai and Krabi). The airline halted its planned expansion to Bengkulu, Jambi and Pangkal Pinang.

In 2019, the airline has announced its interest to commenced a new operation to Betong, Thailand from its hub in Kuala Lumpur[4][5][6]

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.

Singapore

Malaysia

Indonesia

Thailand

Fleet

As of August 2019, the Firefly fleet consists of the following ATR aircraft:[12][13]

In October 2020, the company said that it will commence its first jet operation in the first quarter of 2021.[14]

Firefly Fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
ATR 72-500 12
—
 72
Boeing 737-800 3
—
 160

16J 144Y

 9M-MXF

9M-MXU 9M-MXV

Total 15 —

Fleet history
A Firefly Boeing 737-800 at Kota Kinabalu International Airport. Firefly operated jet aircraft in 2011 with its hub in Kuala Lumpur International Airport

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.[15] The aircraft started to arrive from 11 August 2008,[16] with five delivered in 2008, five in 2009, four in 2010 and the rest in 2011.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19][20]

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.[21] 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.[22]

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.

In October 2020, the Malaysia Aviation group(MAG) had announced that the airline will commence jet operations in first quarter of 2021. There will be ten jets in fleet, however, the type of aircraft is currently unknown.[23][24]

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. "Seletar Airport Prepares for Turboprop Service". aviationweek.com. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  3. "Singapore 2018: Seletar Airport set for turboprop move - Air & Cosmos - International". Air & Cosmos - International. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  4. "Betong airport runway will be extended, says army chief". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  5. "Three airlines eyeing Betong airport". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  6. "Nok Air in talks with authorities on flights to Betong airport". The Nation (Thailand). Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  7. "Fabulous Cats Performs At Senai Airport | Firefly Airline". www.fireflyz.com.my. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  8. "New Kota Bharu to JB Connections | Firefly Airline". www.fireflyz.com.my. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  9. SiennyLovesDrawing (20 November 2019). "Firefly Airlines Expands Its Network Route Directly Connecting Johor Bahru & Kota Bharu". Medium. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  10. https://www.fireflyz.com.my/firefly-johor-bahru-today-live-entertainment-senai-airport
  11. https://www.fireflyz.com.my/firefly-opens-kota-bharu-johor-bahru-connections
  12. "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World. October 2019: 20.
  13. "Firefly Fleet Details and History". planespotters.net.
  14. "Firefly to complement Malaysia Airlines with Penang jet operations in 2021 | The Star". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  15. "MAS inks RM62m deal". Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  16. "Firefly - Get to Know Our Fleet". fireflyz.com.my.
  17. "Positioning itself - Carving out its own seat". Archived from the original on 22 May 2011.
  18. 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.
  19. "Firefly expands with 737-800". Firefly (Malaysia).
  20. Jeeva. "Firefly plans to expand services and take up 30 B737-800s". The Star (Malaysia).
  21. Firefly to only run turboprop planes The Sun Daily
  22. flyfireflyz (16 September 2011). "NEWS: FireFly starts cancelling routes to Sarawak".
  23. https://simpleflying.com/firefly-taking-737-800s/
  24. https://www.flightglobal.com/airlines/firefly-reverts-to-jet-operations-amid-broad-restructuring/140626.article
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