Firefly To Reintroduce Jet Aircraft Services from Penang International Airport

By Anthony Tan
VIRGIN Communications
16 December 2020

email: anthonykhtan@yahoo.co.uk

Firefly first began its jet service operations using the Boeing 737-800 aircraft in January 2011 with scheduled return flights for Johor Bahru -Kuching, Kuala Lumpur -  Kuching, Kuala Lumpur - Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur - Jakarta.

However, it was short-lived and discontinued from September 2011 due to a restructuring of services agreement made between AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines, Firefly's parent company at that time.

When Firefly was using Boeing 737-800 for the jet range services

Fast forward to 2020, Firefly Chief Executive Officer Philip See says, “We are thrilled to kickstart our 2021 journey with jet services from Penang. It has been a challenging 2020 for all of us in the travel industry. We hope these new services will accelerate the overall economic recovery in 2021.

Philip See

He adds that Penang, as the northern hub for our jet services, has a great mix of leisure and corporate business.

Firefly will introduce two daily services between Penang and Kota Kinabalu and Kuching respectively and three daily services between Penang and Johor Bahru. It will be using three Boeing 737-800 narrow body jet aircrafts seconded from Malaysia Airlines’ excess fleet.

Passengers on Firefly jet services will be using the aerobridge facilities for boarding and alighting from the aircraft at the airport terminals.

They can opt for the value bundle of FlyPremium and FlyInfinite set of services to enjoy its product features, which include unlimited flight changes, 35kgs of baggage allowance, in-flight hot meals, seat selection, insurance coverage besides collecting Enrich points.

Being part of Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), Firefly has strong network links and code-sharing facilities with sister companies, Malaysia Airlines and MASwings, which can provide seamless connecting travel experiences to secondary cities in Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia to Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore in near future.

To celebrate the launch, Firefly will be giving discounted ticket sales for its three new jet routes from Penang with fares from as low as RM79 one way. Its registered members will get to enjoy exclusive rates with fares as low as RM69 one way.

Tickets are available for sale through all travel agents, Firefly website and booking offices. For more information on its products and services, visit www.fireflyz.com.my or call +603-78454543.

Firefly finally sees Hatyai’s potentials

By Anthony Tan email: micemalaysiabeyond@gmail.com



The much waited flight from Subang to southern Thailand’s city of Hat Yai has finally materialised and the inaugural flight will take off on May 2.

The will be four weekly flights on every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from Subang to Hatyai.












Way back in 2009, a number of ASEAN outbound tour operators had proposed to Firefly to operate this route for weekenders. They saw the potential for Malaysians to take the early Friday evening flight to Hatyai with some heading other southern town like Trang province, Songkhla and hopping to nearby island resorts Koh Lipe or koh Taruotao.

The Malaysian travel agents with their Thai counterpart in collaboration saw the potential in getting Thai casino regulars to get on the return flight to Subang entroute to Genting Casinos after dropping off the Malaysians at Hatyai, that was even before the two Singapore Casinos becoming a competitor or an option.

Anyway, it is better to be late than never!

The promotional rates are for bookings madeonline from 16 March until March 20, 2012 for travel from 11 June, 2012 to 30 March, 2013 is available from RM129 one way, all-in for the Subang – Hat Yai route.

You can start to pre-book at Firefly’s website: http://www.fireflyz.com.my or Firefly’s airport and city ticketing offices and through travel agents.

Please take note that Firefly’s has announced a move to implement fuel surcharge for bookings made from March 21 to offset against persisting high jet fuel prices. Therefore, if can beat the cut-off date of March 20, you may some money for extra shopping.

COO Shorthaul Malaysia Airlines/ Firefly, Ignatius M.C. Ong, said: “Malaysians are attracted to Hat Yai for its shopping, good food and city attractions. Hat Yai is also the gateway to Satun and Trang provinces, both popular island destinations.

“We expect our load factor on the Subang – Hat Yai route comprises of Malaysians as well as foreign tourists who choose to combine Malaysia and Thailand in their holiday itinerary.”

The weekly flight schedule below:

Subang (SZB) – Hat Yai (HDY) – Flight available on Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun
Commencement: 2 May 2012

Route: SZB – HDY Flight No: FY 3614 Departure: 12 Noon (local time) Arrival: 12.20pm (local time)
Route: HDY – SZB Flight No: FY 3615 Departure: 12.50pm (local time) Arrival: 3.20pm (local time)

Visit this link to know more about Hatyai: http://www.tourismthailand.my/ematerials/pdf/Hatyai.pdf

Visit this link for more news on Airlines and Airports: http://airlinesairportsmalaysia.blogspot.com/

Garuda Indonesia increase third flight to KLIA

By Anthony Tan email: micemalaysiabeyond@gmail.com

With effect from 19 February, Garuda Indonesia (Garuda) will now fly three times daily between Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta from the present two daily flights.

To welcome Garuda’s inaugural third flight GA816to KLIA, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad and Garuda Indonesia president and chief executive officer Bapak Emirsyah Satar were at gate C2 to receive the arriving passengers with welcome gifts. (Picture Right)

Also present at the ceremony were Indonesia Youth & Sports Minister Dr. Andi Alifian Mallarangeng, Indonesia's Social and Culture Minister Suryana Sastra Diredja and Garuda executive vice-president of marketing and sales Muhammad Arif Wibowo.

The arrival of inaugural flight GA 816 to KLIA



Welcome Speech by MAHB managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad



Speech by Garuda Indonesia president and chief executive officer Emirsyah Satar


Dr Andi who was in Kuala Lumpur earlier to attend other functions said he was happy to see their national carrier Garuda actively playing their role. He added that last year there were five million passengers travelled between Malaysia and Indonesia by air. In view of the formation of the ASEAN Community by 2015, he sees the potential in bilateral growth in business travellers, tourism and youth and tourism sporting activities between the two countries.

MAHB managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad presenting a coffee-table
book on KLIA to Indonesia Youth & Sports Minister Dr. Andi Alifian Mallarangeng. (Picture Right)

Garuda is a full-service network airline with its main hubs in Jakarta, Denpasar and Makassar that serves 31 domestic and 19 international destinations. For the Kuala Lumpur – Jakarta route, Garuda will be using the new Boeing 737-800NG with 12 business class seats and 150 for the economy class with in-flight facilities.

For Garuda’s daily flight schedule between Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur-Jakarta logon: www.garuda-indonesia.com

With Garuda's additional daily flight, now frequent flyers between Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta have more choices to choose the timing of their flights and thus making a day trip to Jakarta possible.

Please click to this link on Meeting Incentives Conventions Exhibitions (MICE) industry: http://micemalaysiabeyond.blogspot.com