SUBANG: Firefly, Malaysia’s premium short-haul airline, is upbeat about propelling domestic travel this year amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak which has resulted in travel restrictions in certain countries.
Chief executive officer Philip See said the turboprop operator aimed to carry more passengers this year from about 1.5 million to 2.0 million carried last year.
"We focus more on the leisure market and believe the awareness of our destinations (routes) will be further supported by Tourism Malaysia.
“We will also continue to focus on business travel, while getting customers from this segment to travel with us for leisure,” he told the New Straits Times on the sidelines of the launch of Visit Malaysia 2020 (VMY2020) campaign with Firefly here today.
The campaign involves the showcase of VMY2020 logo on all Firefly aircraft exteriors and various state’s tourism products in the interior overhead compartments and meal tray of several aircraft.
See believes the business market would recover fast when people start travelling and regain the confidence.
“People like travelling on a turboprop. It also enables us to deliver great flight frequency and offers more choices of flights for customers,” he added.
See said turboprop aircraft enables Firefly to open up new market which never been accessible by a larger aircraft.
“We introduced Penang-Kuantan and Kota Bahru-Johor Bahru routes last year. These are the markets that are not mature enough for larger aircraft but small aircraft like turboprops are able to execute and create connections,” he said.
See said it was still early to ascertain the impact of Covid-19 on Firefly’s operations but said that the domestic market would recover fast.
“Once we put the right confidence level into the market, the numbers (flight bookings) will pick up,” he said.
He said Firefly offers 600 flights on a weekly basis for 14 routes mainly served for Penang, Johor Bahru, Kota Bahru, Singapore and Langkawi.
“We fly from a city airport (Subang Skypark Terminal). It is the most convenient airport and our flights usually within an one hour and half hour range. It is convenient for corporate business travellers as we deliver reliability for our customers.
“It only takes about 15 minutes from the check-in counter to the security check area and into the departure hall. It is indeed an idle airport to land and start journey with no hassle,” he said.
Firefly currently operates 12 ATR 72-500 turboprops aircraft out of Penang and Subang, connecting secondary destinations within the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand as well as between Malaysia and Singapore.
See said the airline would not place orders for new aircraft or receive new planes within the first two years.
“We do not have plans to order new or take delivery in the next two years (2020 and 2021).
“Most of our aircraft are fully utilised as we operate 600 flights weekly,” he said.