Firefly Takes Delivery Of Third Boeing 737-800 For Kota Kinabalu Operations

KOTA KINABALU, May 14 (Bernama) - Firefly, a community airline subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines (MAS), took delivery of a third Boeing 737-800 aircraft to be stationed here, officially marking the start of Kota Kinabalu as its eastern hub. Firefly currently flies daily between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu with its two 737-800s, but with the arrival of the latest aircraft, there will be three aircraft flying six times daily to service the route.

Managing Director Datuk Eddy Leong, in welcoming the new aircraft at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport, said the launch of Kota Kinabalu as its eastern hub was part of the company's plan to strengthen its domestic network. It also plans to soon launch Senai in Johor as its southern hub. "For the eastern hub, our ultimate aim is to have one flight departing every hour from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur.

"Eventually, we will have three hubs; Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang (KLIA), Senai International Aiport in Johor and the Kota Kinabalu International Airport. "By next week we will take delivery of our second Boeing 737-400, which will be based in Senai, and begin our Johor Bahru-Kuching route by May 19. By June 16, we will start the JB-Kota Kinabalu routes," he told reporters when met at the airport here Saturday.

Launched on April 3, 2007, Firefly initially started operating out of the Penang and Subang hubs before shifting its main operations to KLIA. It connects various points within Malaysia, Southern Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, aligning itself with the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) agenda. Todate, its fleet comprises 10 ATR 720-500, one B737-400 and three B737-800.

In line with the company's long term-plan to have a minimum of 30 B737-800s in five years, Leong said they would focus on increasing and developing the network of domestic destinations.

"We want to cover all major cities in Sabah and Sarawak, then move to Johor, Langkawi, Penang and Kota Bharu, before venturing international in the second-half of 2012," he added. In terms of investment, Leong said there was not much capital expenditure involved for the airline used leased aircraft and tapped on engineering and ground handling facilities of MAS. "Whatever money we save from all this is translated into lower fares, that's why we guarantee that we will be cheaper than any other competitor in Malaysia," he added.

-Bernama.