Firefly may take delivery of 3 new planes this year
By Marina Emmanuel (Published: 2010/01/06)
COMMUNITY airline Firefly may take delivery of three new planes this year as demand for travel could recover. The three planes were supposed to arrive last year but were deferred as a recession took its toll on business.
FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Eddy Leong said the airline will make a decision by the end of February.
"Subject to the delivery of the three additional aircraft, we will review the reinstatement of some suspended flights such as Kota Bharu-Penang," he told Business Times yesterday.
Last year, Firefly announced the suspension of several flights operating out of the Penang International Airport.
They included flights from Penang to Kuala Terengganu, Kota Bharu, Koh Samui and Kuantan. Firefly had also suspended its Subang-Phuket flight.
Firefly now has seven ATR 72-500s. "We are also looking at introducing the Subang-Hatyai route," he said, adding that Firefly has not initiated any traffic right applications to fly the proposed route and is currently at market research stage.
On plans for more flights into Singapore this year, Leong said: "We continue to work with the Kedah and Kelantan state governments to commence direct flights to Singapore, and much of which depends on refuelling facilities at the Alor Setar and Kota Bharu airports".
Firefly also plans to start a second daily flight from Ipoh to Singapore. When asked on the outlook of the aviation industry this year and how Firefly is expected to fare, Leong said: "Most industry players and observers expect 2010 to be more stable than 2009, although we may not necessarily see a drastic upswing.
"This is due to fuel cost which has been steadily rising since the last vertical dip to record lows, and we are viewing this with caution".
Firefly will continue to strengthen its position as a community airline, focusing on commuter traffic and connecting secondary cities and towns.
"Our inbound marketing efforts via code-share with MAS are beginning to show very positive results and we will push our yield and seat factor higher this year."
SOURCE (Sumber): Business Times: 06-01-2010
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