Today i read this news from www.thestar.com.my..
Another low-cost carrier called Firefly will take to the skies from April 2. It will be based at the Penang International Airport.
FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd, a 100% subsidiary of MAS, will initially fly six routes.
The routes are from Penang to Langkawi, Kota Baru, Kuala Terengganu and Kuantan for the domestic destinations and from Penang to Koh Samui and Phuket for the regional destinations.
For a start, the airline will use two 50-seater Fokker planes to fly to Phuket and Koh Samui seven times a week, while it will fly 14 times weekly to Kota Baru, Kuala Terengganu, Kuantan and Langkawi.
As for the airfare, MAS managing director Idris Jala said: “It will start from as low as RM9, slightly more than the price of a plate of nasi kandar.”
In presenting the operating licence to Idris at his office here yesterday, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said the new airline would promote Penang as the country’s hub for low-cost carriers in the northern region.
“Except for the Penang-Langkawi routes, the domestic destinations are currently not being serviced by any other airline, so Firefly will fill the niche and boost connectivity in the north.
“This connectivity will further boost tourist arrivals, particularly to achieve our 20 million target during Visit Malaysia 2007, as well as enhance economic development within the Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand growth area in the long term.
“MAS’ decision to set up this carrier is the result of earlier discussions between the airline and the ministry on how they can improve their network for the Visit Malaysia Year,” he told reporters after the weekly Cabinet meeting.
With Firefly joining the stable, the country will now have six airlines. The others are Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, Berjaya Air, Transmile and Fly Asian Xpress.
Idris said Firefly – tagged the community airline – was aimed at serving people staying in places previously not served by any airline.
Malaysia’s sixth airline: Chan presenting Firefly’s operating licence to Idris in Putrajaya yesterday. The new airline will be based at the Penang International Airport.“But MAS cannot do it because of the higher operating costs for us. So we have to set up this new airline.
“It will be a win-win situation for everybody. However, this airline will have an entirely new managing team and business model, all of which will be announced on March 17 in Penang,” he said, adding that MAS expects to achieve profit from the Firefly's operations from next year.
3 comments:
Malaysia are going down a dimilar route to South Africa, where the state-carrier was bleeding market-share to low-cost liners and opened up its own low-cost carrier (if you cant beat them join them); in the case of SA the low-cost carrier was Mango airlines, in the case of Malaysia Firefly airlines.
No doubt Firefly airline (a subsidiary of Malaysia Airline) promise to provide cheap and budget air tickets to passengers, I would advise those who would like to give Firefly a try to be aware of the potential delay of Firefly flight at the 11th hour whereby you can practically do nothing at that time but a terrible experience. Eventually, the incidental cost incurred is even more costly than the saving you might save from the so called cheap ticket.
Based on my experience and I am not sure whether I am the unlucky one or not, out of 3 flights, 2 were delayed and resulting we missed the last boat to Pulau Redang and incurred additional necessary cost to stay a night at Kuala Trengganu and wasted a day of supposed to be “happy hours” at Pulau Redang.
Also, on the same day (mid of March 2008), not only the flight from Penang to Kuala Trengganu was delayed, we also met a bunch of unhappy passengers including foreigners with sour and long faces who faced the same bad experience whereby their flight from Penang to Pulau Langkawi was delayed too...Some of the passengers told me that they were paying RM300+ for a return ticket from Penang to Langkawi which is not really cheap for a low cost airline like Firefly Airline.
Trust me this is definitely not a good experience especially when you are expecting to have a great and relaxing vacation and enjoy your precious moment with your love one on the beach... and ended up talking to a bunch of unfriendly Firefly personnel (that I believe that they need to attend further training to improve their customer service skills).
It is not worth your vacation time talking to a bunch of inexperienced and irresponsible customer service personnel who can only offer 2 options to you when you are going to miss your last boat: (1) cancel your flight and get a refund or (2) reschedule your flight…They just ignore all the hassle, opportunity cost and inconvenience caused by the delay of the flights conveniently…
In view of this unpleasant incident to lose both monetary on additional hotel accommodation and loss of accommodation and vacation time at Pulau Redang, we have filed a complaint and request for compensation as advised by Firefly customer service personnel via email to feedback@fireflyz.com.my. To our surprise and disappointment, it takes 3-4 weeks for Firefly to respond and reject our claim with a simple note “Your request of compensation has been declined” and no feedback to our complaint.
Personally, I view this kind of service as irresponsible and would like to share our experience and suggest those who really stretch on their time for not trying your luck and taking the risk. It is not worth to waste both your valuable time and money this way....
GOOD NEW FROM FIREFLY
Firefly Raises Free Baggage Allowance to 20 kg (from online newspaper)
Kuala Lumpur, April 23 – From 25th April 08, Firefly will increase its baggage allowance for checked baggage from 15kg to 20kg. Passengers on Firefly’s domestic and regional flights will now have the convenience of traveling with up to 20kg of checked baggage on free-of-charge basis.
The product enhancement was made following feedbacks from our repeat customers requesting for additional baggage allowance mainly stemming from current restrictions imposed on hand-carry items on grounds of safety and security. Sharp objects and liquid items such as medications, contact lens solution and toiletries are now required to be checked-in therefore adding to the need for extra weight allowance for checked baggage.
The decision to allow up to 20 kg is also to streamline product offering in line with other full service carriers ahead of Firefly’s plan to code share and interline with Malaysia Airlines.
In tandem with this product enhancement, Firefly is increasing its fuel surcharge by RM5.00 for domestic flights and RM8.00 for international flights for ticket bookings made from 25th April onwards.
This is partly to help manage the current hike in oil price, which has shown a sharp increase of 75% from the same time last year when Firefly commenced operations.
Fly Firefly
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