COMMUNITY airline Firefly may take delivery of three new planes this year as demand for travel could recover.

 

 The three planes were supposed to arrive last year but were deferred as a recession took its toll on business.

 

 FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Eddy Leong said the airline will make a decision by the end of February.

 

“Subject to the delivery of the three additional aircraft, we will review the reinstatement of some suspended flights such as Kota Baru-Penang,” he told Business Times yesterday.

 

Last year, Firefly announced the suspension of several flights operating out of the Penang International Airport.

 

They included flights from Penang to Kuala Terengganu, Kota Baru, Koh Samui and Kuantan. Firefly had also suspended its Subang- Phuket flight.

 

Firefly now has seven ATR 72-500s.

 

 ”We are also looking at introducing the Subang-Hatyai route,” he said, adding that Firefly has not initiated any traffic right applications to fly the proposed route and is currently at market research stage.

 

On plans for more flights into Singapore this year, Leong said: “We continue to work with the Kedah and Kelantan state governments to commence direct flights to Singapore, and much of which depends on refuelling facilities at the Alor Setar and Kota Baru airports”. Firefly also plans to start a second daily flight from Ipoh to Singapore.

 

When asked on the outlook of the aviation industry this year and how Firefly is expected to fare, Leong said: “Most industry players and observers expect 2010 to be more stable than 2009, although we may not necessarily see a drastic upswing.

 

“This is due to fuel cost which has been steadily rising since the last vertical dip to record lows, and we are viewing this with caution”.

 

 Firefly will continue to strengthen its position as a community airline, focusing on commuter traffic and connecting secondary cities and towns.

 

“Our inbound marketing efforts via code-share with MAS are beginning to show very positive results and we will push our yield and seat factor higher this year.”

The airline industry in Malaysia has progressed tremendously over the last 10 years. Air travel has now become so common that it would be hard to imagine life without it. While community airlines like Firefly focuses on leisure travelers, it has also directly introduced positive impact to the business communalities in the region particularly in Malaysia. Firefly Airlines has changed the way people conduct business and has made it possible for businesses to be connected and to conduct business in places once considered remote.

For the last 2 years, 70% of my Firefly flights are for business/work purposes. Through this many flights, Firefly Airlines has successfully shifted my earlier perception that business travel must be on premium airline. In this Firefly Review episode, I would like to share 10 reasons or features that I think make Firefly Airlines, the right airlines in meeting the needs and wants of business travelers.

Reason #1 – Point-to-Point Secondary Route

Firefly now flies to 16 destinations in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. It serves major business cities like Kuala Lumpur (via the City, Subang Airport), Penang, Singapore and Johor Bahru which are popular routes among businessmen.

Unlike other airlines in Malaysia, Firefly also serves secondary destinations such as Kerteh, Ipoh and Batam providing direct accessibility to businesses. I have colleagues that fly to our project site in Batam from Subang every two weeks that are very thankful for Firefly as they now no longer need to fly to Singapore/JB and take a ferry ride to Batam. This is one out of many success stories of how Firefly helps to connect businesses.

Reason #2 – Fly from the City.

I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again. Subang SkyPark or Subang Airport is a real city airport. Less traveling time to the airport, hence more time for business. Less hectic, save time, save cost. For a full review on SkyPark business facilities, click here.

Choose Subang Airport, Choose Firefly.

Reason #3 – Perfect Timing

cheduling of Firefly Airlines in my opinion is done in a way that allows business travelers to do daytrips easily. There is enough frequency for major destinations and the timings are perfect. My usual flight for example would be the flight to Johor Bahru from Subang that leaves at 7:15am every day, early enough to transport business travelers like me to catch a 9am meeting in JB city. On the same day I usually conduct few meetings and fly back in the 7:10pm flight to Subang from JB arriving just in-time to have dinner with my family. Perfect timing allows work-life-balance and this is what many business commuters sought after.

Reason #4 – Flexibility

Contrary to the general perception on cheap flights, Firefly Airlines does offer flexibility to business travelers. Name and date changes may be allowed, depending on the fare rules of the purchased ticket. This is getting more common as nowadays even premium airlines charge a certain fee for flight changes. With Firefly, a business traveler can still be flexible and change flights using the online feature available on their website.

Reason #5 – New and Smaller Planes



Firefly Review – Episode 12: Your Business Airline

The airline industry in Malaysia has progressed tremendously over the last 10 years. Air travel has now become so common that it would be hard to imagine life without it. While community airlines like Firefly focuses on leisure travelers, it has also directly introduced positive impact to the business communalities in the region particularly in Malaysia. Firefly Airlines has changed the way people conduct business and has made it possible for businesses to be connected and to conduct business in places once considered remote.

For the last 2 years, 70% of my Firefly flights are for business/work purposes. Through this many flights, Firefly Airlines has successfully shifted my earlier perception that business travel must be on premium airline. In this Firefly Review episode, I would like to share 10 reasons or features that I think make Firefly Airlines, the right airlines in meeting the needs and wants of business travelers.

Reason #1 – Point-to-Point Secondary Route

Firefly now flies to 16 destinations in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. It serves major business cities like Kuala Lumpur (via the City, Subang Airport), Penang, Singapore and Johor Bahru which are popular routes among businessmen.

Unlike other airlines in Malaysia, Firefly also serves secondary destinations such as Kerteh, Ipoh and Batam providing direct accessibility to businesses. I have colleagues that fly to our project site in Batam from Subang every two weeks that are very thankful for Firefly as they now no longer need to fly to Singapore/JB and take a ferry ride to Batam. This is one out of many success stories of how Firefly helps to connect businesses.

Reason #2 – Fly from the City.

I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again. Subang SkyPark or Subang Airport is a real city airport. Less traveling time to the airport, hence more time for business. Less hectic, save time, save cost. For a full review on SkyPark business facilities, click here.

Choose Subang Airport, Choose Firefly.

Reason #3 – Perfect Timing

Scheduling of Firefly Airlines in my opinion is done in a way that allows business travelers to do daytrips easily. There is enough frequency for major destinations and the timings are perfect. My usual flight for example would be the flight to Johor Bahru from Subang that leaves at 7:15am every day, early enough to transport business travelers like me to catch a 9am meeting in JB city. On the same day I usually conduct few meetings and fly back in the 7:10pm flight to Subang from JB arriving just in-time to have dinner with my family. Perfect timing allows work-life-balance and this is what many business commuters sought after.

Reason #4 – Flexibility

Contrary to the general perception on cheap flights, Firefly Airlines does offer flexibility to business travelers. Name and date changes may be allowed, depending on the fare rules of the purchased ticket. This is getting more common as nowadays even premium airlines charge a certain fee for flight changes. With Firefly, a business traveler can still be flexible and change flights using the online feature available on their website.

Reason #5 – New and Smaller Planes

Firefly flies ATR72-500 turboprops planes. With only 72 passengers, boarding and alighting the plane are usually done in less than 10 minutes. Firefly offers the quickest “landing to leaving airport” time thanks to its small plane and efficient ground staff.

ATR72-500 also has a more comfortable 2×2 leather seats layout giving the ‘business-class’ feel to all passengers. There is no such thing as middle seat where you got very little privacy and space, something many business travelers don’t like.

Reason #6 – No queue and choose your own seat!

All boarding passes on Firefly Airlines are now numbered so passengers no longer have to line up early, which was a turnoff to many business travelers already rushed for time. For business travelers, the availability of the new option of choosing a seat online for a minimal charge of RM10 is a great addition to Firefly in-flight service.

Fancy for a comfortable seat with good legroom? Choose the front row. Rushing for a meeting? Choose the last row on the plane. It’s all in the hands of the business travelers.

Reason #7 – Travel Heavy with Firefly

All passengers with Firefly are entitled to a 20kg free baggage allowance. For many business travelers this is very useful as business trips sometime involves marketing collaterals like brochures, products, equipments, etc that need to be brought along. Firefly attracts business travelers by offering this free 20KG and also having the option to purchase additional excess baggage prepaid making life easier for business travelers.

Reason #8 – Swing in Business Deals with Firefly

(image courtesy of Firefly)

Golf is known by many business executives as the sports for business. It is a common trend worldwide for business deals to be discussed and sealed on a golf course. Firefly has successfully tapped into this market and offers business travelers many great deals. One of it being the AGS-Firefly Golf Card. This card offers an array of convenient golfing avenues nationwide, with almost 50 associated golf clubs and resorts to choose from, and unlimited rounds of golf at discounted rates throughout the year.

With Firefly, business executives can easily bring along their golf sets with a minimal charge and just sit back, relax and enjoy the flying experience with Firefly before their games and meetings start.

Reason #9 – D-I-Y Travel Arrangements

While usually travel agents are the ones making arrangement for company executives, there is a large group of untapped travelers which I labeled as self-managed business travelers. These are tech-savvy executives that usually choose their own routes and book their own flights. The nature of Firefly Airlines being a first-come-first-serve airline allows access to everyone as there is no such thing as seats being blocked by travel agents for other passengers. It’s a fair game for everyone and making travel arrangement easier.

In the past I’ve conveniently purchased my Firefly ticket through my Nokia E63 in between meetings. This accessibility and simplicity is something that I find suits my work schedule better compared to previously having to go through the company’s travel agent.

Reason #10 – Cost! Cost! Cost!

In a nutshell, a flight with Firefly Airlines will cost less than a premium airline. It is cheaper to fly with Firefly in terms of flight ticket, cost to the airport and the other service charges. In this kind of economic scenario, it makes all sense for companies to begin considering Firefly Airline as their preferred airline simply because it’s cheaper and offer the same perks as premium airlines.

Firefly is starting to offer corporate programmes for companies and businesses. In the end what also motivates me to fly with Firefly Airlines is the fact that I can walk to my boss and brag to him how I have help to save the company’s money!

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There you go, 10 reasons why I think Firefly rocks for business travelers!

While airlines are eliminating jobs, scaling back flights and parking planes to weather the recession, which has caused lucrative business travel in particular to decline, Firefly Airlines are ready to capture the business segment of air travelers shifting from flying premium airline to something cheaper but offering same premium hospitality and services. Next time you’re on Firefly Airlines, check out the increasing numbers of passengers in suits and tie

Our next experience came from Prakash of Johor Bahru. He tells us his first experience with Firefly. Bad or good comments? Well, you will have to read it!

My colleagues have been flying Firefly almost exclusively for the past 2 years. So often I have heard of passengers complaining about the flight delays, but I consider myself lucky because I didn’t experience any delay on any of my flights I previously travelled. That luck evaded me during my most recent date with the airline’s flight FY 2148 from JB to Subang and to tell you frankly, that was the 1st time i took the Firefly aircraft.

Many have told me about the decline in Firefly service. They said they are not like they used to be at the first time when they launched their service mid 2007. I hate to believe that they are correct. I sincerely hope they are wrong.

The 1st hurdle came by as I received 6 text messages informing me that my flight have been delayed by 2 hours. Well, i felt that it was ‘okay’ for me as this was my 1st experience of getting flight delays and I eventually arrived at Sultan Ismail International airport for my check in at the re-timed session.

As everything went on smooth, there was another setback as the flight have been delayed by another 30 minutes which by this time all the passengers who were all waiting to board the aircraft at the boarding bay stranded without any prior notice or announcement over the Airport PA system that announced about the delay.

Well, what I could witness was, there were many passengers who were unhappy and many of them approached the information counter for further explanations and what they get was a no vail answer. While I was walking around the boarding bay, there was a guy by the name of Raymond who approached me and we started to chat about the flight delay and eventually ended up being a new friend on board.

Through his conversation at that time, he told me this was the second time in a row that he faced this flight delay without prior notice and he was getting fed up with such services. His 1st flight was bound to Kuala Terengganu via Subang.

As the conversation was getting lengthy, we talked about many topics which I believe could be an improvement for Firefly.

1. Firefly should take advantage of the access to Subang International Airport which would be an easier an convenient route to many of the passengers staying in Selangor and KL district as I believe all the other aircrafts are flying to KLIA or LCCT which is quite far from the main sub-urban areas. (Except Berjaya Air i guess). So I believe the flight delays, cancellations and poor service is not recommendable.

2. If there is any flight delays exceeding 2 or 3 hours, passengers would be entitled to cash vouchers which they can use to purchase the next Firefly ticket. In this way, I believe the passengers would be given another chance to judge the credibility and improvements that out to be virtues by Firefly. (Passengers don’t lose hope on the Firefly services)

3. Announcement over the Airport PA system if there are any flight delays and appointing a crew or representatives over at the boarding bay. (This to improve the communication service.)

Budget airlines may be good in terms of value for the tourists but for business people it is different. If a company is a prestigious one and is prospering why should it make its productive and hardworking executives travel cattle class or budget airlines? If I am working as an executive for a big and renowned company and it makes me fly budget or economy, I will switch allegiance. My reason for switching to another establishment is why work for a stingy company?

So you see people will still fly business and first class especially now when the recession is almost over and companies are reporting brisk businesses and turning in profits.
In this light,airlines like Firefly need to improve their services and compete with the best as i believe many of the Firefly staffs have the experience working with a world class airlines such as MAS. So, I hope that it would bring up some bright ideas to establish Firefly as the best community airline as mentioned!

Last but not least, I would like to say some great moments travelling up the new ATR72-500 and their cabin crew services. This is really great experience as the plane look awesome and great.

I believe firefly can make wonders with this aircraft as this is an unique model here as many of the other airlines are using Airbus and Boeing up their sleeves. So, let Firefly go in with a bang to get the large community to fly frequently with them. Well, the cabin crew services was a great one and didn’t had any hiccups along the way as their broad smiles and delicate service was a natural cool down for many of the passengers.

Well, this was what I could think about at this moment and if there is any improvements or comments, would post it up soon.

Regards,
Your concerned community
Prakash