For Eddy Leong, managing director of Firefly, there is indeed truth in the cliche that when times are bad, opportunity presents itself.

Firefly which touts itself as a “community airline” and not a low-cost carrier, has to a degree been able to capitalise on the bad times with its unique service offerings.

Although the market outlook for the aviation industry in general has been grim, the financial downturn actually presented an opportunity for Firefly, Leong said.

“People who used to travel on full service airlines now come to us because we offer the best of both worlds.

“We are a mid-sized carrier but we provide the frills that full-service airlines offer and low-cost carriers don’t … and we are affordably priced,” he said, adding that many low-cost carriers lure passengers with cheap fares, but have hidden costs built in.

“We didn’t want to jump on the bandwagon of enticing people with low fares. Instead, we capitalised on the convenience factor since our hub is in Subang. That is indeed a good pull for us.

“Our strategy has been to utilise that selling point and, at the same time, provide passengers with other benefits for their convenience.

“In short, we let our passengers experience a hassle-free and more convenient flying experience.”

“So, while other airlines entice passengers with low fares, we charm passengers with our services,” Leong quipped.

He said that although Firefly is a latecomer to the airline industry in Malaysia, it has learnt from its counterparts.

“When we started in 2007, people said the industry here at that time was saturated. But because we knew that, we chose the right aircraft and learnt to pick the best of both worlds of full-service and low-cost model airlines.”

The airline switched from Fokker planes to 72-seater ATR turbo prop models this year.

“We actually gain by being a carrier with small aircraft because it is very economical. During bad times, we will not bleed to death because our trip cost is very low,” Leong said.

Firefly has seven ATR aircraft and operates on 12 domestic and 14 regional routes. Therein lies another “secret” to its success.

Leong said Firefly also focuses on secondary routes that other airlines “neglect”.

“This has become a good value proposition for us because there is high demand for these secondary routes, as nobody else can operate feasibly or safely on these routes.”

For example, he said, Firefly’s latest Ipoh-Singapore route, which was introduced in mid-July, has been soaking up demand.

“We have been more than 95% booked on these flights.”

Asked how the airline manages to operate extensively with such a small fleet, Leong said the key was “quick transit”.

“Our transit time is only 15-20 minutes before flying off. When we first flew to Singapore, we had to teach our Singaporean ground handlers (how to work fast) … and initially, even they couldn’t believe it could be done.”

And to keep itself relevant, Firefly carries out daily surveys to find out what its customers want and expect of the airline. Every day, cabin crew members randomly pick passengers and give them survey forms.

“We find that our passengers are mostly young professionals who are intelligent and well-connected, so we spread our presence when it comes to the advertising channels,” said Leong.

Although the airline has never been aggressive in advertising, it has been consistent and purposeful in terms of the ads it puts up. About 8% of Firefly’s revenue is allocated for advertising, Leong said.

“We consider ourselves a community based airline, so our advertisements are never flashy. We don’t harp on low fares. Our advertisements have been more on destination marketing and our services.”

Firefly’s main advertising medium is still newspapers, but the company is branching out into other media.

It has started allocating a good portion of its advertising budget to include alternative media.

“We are now involved in blogs, and even Facebook,” Leong said.