Firefly mulls buying 90-seater ATR planes for regional expansion

By Wong Wei Shen

TOULOUSE (France): Firefly Sdn Bhd is open to the possibility of taking up a 90-seater turboprop aircraft from Avions de Transport Regional (ATR) once it is available.

Firefly chief executive officer Ignatius Ong said: "We definitely need to look at the 90-seater because slots at airports are becoming an issue. We are fully committed to ATR in this sense."

The 90-seater aircraft, when established, will be a key point in Firefly's growth and expansion plans in Asia and Southeast Asia, he said here late Wednesday.

"Not only would we be stimulating demand, the additional capacity will reduce our operating costs, which will then be translated into savings passed down to the consumer," he said

ATR chief executive officer Filippo Bagnato said the company is in the process of checking the concept and configuration of a 90-seater aircraft.

"We have received a lot of demand for the 90-seater from Southeast Asian and Latin American major operators," Bagnato said.

However, the anticipated launch of the 90-seater next year is subject to demand of at least 100 orders of the aircraft, as well as the approval of ATR's shareholder. It is possible that it will commence services in 10 years time.

Source: The Star Online | 4 July 2013 |