FLYFIREFLY Sdn Bhd (Firefly), a unit of Malaysia Aviation Group, has been caught in the middle of an unresolved issue between the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAA) and Seletar Airport, Singapore.
The issue has resulted in Firefly having to suspend all its flights from its main hub at Subang Skypark Terminal to Singapore from December 1 this year.
Sources with knowledge of the matter told NST Business that the issue involved air space control matters.
“There are some regulatory issues involving air space control,” said the sources, adding that there was no timeline on when the matter would be resolved.
The sources said Firefly would resume operations to Singapore once a resolution is reached.
NST Business understood that Singapore was Firefly’s most profitable route among its network. It started flying to the city-state on July 1 2009.
The airline, which operates turboprop planes, also flies to Phuket in Thailand and Banda Aceh in Indonesia, besides domestic destinations.
Based on a notice on its website, Firefly said it had to suspend the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore flights until Singaporean authorities resolve the matters relating to the country’s plan to move all turboprop operations from Singapore Changi Airport to Seletar.
“Firefly has not been provided with any definitive timeline by the authorities for the delay. Upon final approval from the authorities, Firefly will then resume its flights to Singapore,” it said in the statement.
Firefly’s announcement came less than a week after Changi Airport Group (CAG) announced that all scheduled turboprop flights in Singapore would be moved to a US$80 million (RM335.64 million) new Selatar terminal from Changi Airport.
CAG manages both Changi Airport and Seletar. Firefly is the only turboprop operator flying to Changi Airport with daily flights to and from Subang, Ipoh and Kuantan.