SINGAPORE: FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd, an airline unit of Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd, is targeting to carry some 40,000 passengers on its Subang-Seletar flight by year-end.
Chief executive officer Philip See said the minimum target of 40,000 would be for Firefly's twice daily flight on its ATR 72-500 turboprop aircraft.
"Hopefully, we'll expand it to 60,000, 70,000 passengers when we add more frequency," he said at the recommebdement of Firefly Subang-Seletar flight here today.
The first flight to Singapore since two years ago had a load factor of 80 per cent.
The airline reinstate its flights to Seletar Airport in Singapore from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang marking another significant milestone as part of its post-pandemic recovery initiatives.
Firefly's maiden flight to Seletar was in April 2018 with six flights a day. However, it was suspended in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
See said both Subang and Seletar airports were convenient in terms of time and location for all types of travelers, including corporate, business and leisure.
He said the Firefly was happy to resume the flight to Singapore in the first week of June 2022, after the reopening of the borders between Malaysia and Singapore.
"We're very proud and very happy to be here. Two flights a day to start with and we hope that the demand will pick up and gradually we'll go back to where we were pre-pandemic levels," See said, adding that the additional flight frequency would be introduced gradually from two to four to six based on market demand.
Meanwhile, See said that Firefly had no plans at the moment to resume its other international flights or to fly its Boeing 737-800 from Penang to Singapore.
He also said there were no plans to introduce new destinations either this year.
"Not for the next 12 months, to be honest. We're focusing on making Subang-Seletar work, build the load. The volume and market are huge by itself already. So, we want to focus on that at the moment," See said, adding that Singapore is the first international destination that the airline has resumed flying to.