Malaysia’s first community airline, Firefly

[Nautilus]

Firefly

Flies to Phuket also from Penang.




2,000 free seats to mark start of operations

By NIK KHUSAIRI IBRAHIM

PENANG: Malaysia’s first community airline, Firefly, is offering 2,000 free seats next month when it starts operations on April 2.

Travellers can start booking for seats from tomorrow through Malaysia Airlines’ 24-hour call centre (1-300-88-3000).

Bookings can also be made at MAS ticketing offices here, in Kuala Lumpur, KL International Airport, Kota Baru, Terengganu, Kuantan and Langkawi.

Firefly managing director Eddy Leong said the public could also make bookings through the airline’s website Firefly from the middle of May.

“We are offering 14 flights per week from Penang to Kota Baru, Kuantan, Kuala Terengganu, Langkawi. There are also seven flights per week to Phuket and Koh Samui (both in Thailand),” he told a press briefing here yesterday.

Firefly, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MAS, has made Penang its hub and will initially be using two 50-seater Fokker 50 aircraft.

Leong said the new company was leveraging on MAS’ operational expertise as well as its infrastructure in engineering, maintenance, ground handling, flight operations, planning and control.

MAS managing director and chief executive officer Idris Jala said he had handpicked Leong to lead Firefly because of his experience as an assistant general manager in MAS.

“We expect Firefly would boost our revenue and help us meet our net profit of RM500mil next year,” he said.

At a function to unveil the Firefly logo, Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said MAS’ performance had been remarkable and that Firefly should also be able to perform as well.

“I am confident Firefly will do well since it would be servicing the IMT-GT (Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle),” he said.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said the state government was willing to discuss with MAS on providing more destinations.

Among the destinations that could be considered were Medan, Aceh and Padang in Indonesia, he said.

[Nicke]

Sounds like we here in Phuket can fly directly to Penang again, that route were available through Thai in the past until they cancelled it some years ago.

Is Firefly a low cost carrier?

[Nautilus]

They are under MAS, but dont know if they are low cost or not.

[Nautilus]

Firefly » Schedule

[steve w]

just what i have been waiting for,wooooooo hoooooooo,will be using them in november .

if they are still operating!

[Coyotee]

Originally Posted by Nicke

Sounds like we here in Phuket can fly directly to Penang again, that route were available through Thai in the past until they cancelled it some years ago.

Is Firefly a low cost carrier?

Yes....prices will start as low as 90 baht...supplement/complement/compete with Airasia

[Dr. M.]

that's good news.
also cheaper and easier to get to samui from KL now.
i took "berjaya air" last year samui-KL,
was the worst aircraft i ever flew with--very scary plus they
charge me 110 usd one way.
hope firefly will serve KL-samui soon!
cheers M.

[Crustasian]

Great for my Visa runs.Also the flights are in the afternoons - very civilized.

I will be doing a run to Penang next month so I will try them out.

[Nautilus]

There are already prices for Phuket/Samui route, but the online reservation is not up yet. Got to wait...

[california]

They are flying Fokker 50 aircraft, it is an old & discontinued model of plane.

[ATMwalking]

Originally Posted by california

They are flying Fokker 50 aircraft, it is an old & discontinued model of plane.

That's what I was thinking. Freaky old turboprop job. Out of production for 11 years. Just a way for MAL to use old planes I guess. Could be good for visa runs outside of monsoon season.

[Thai Kwan Do]

Originally Posted by california

They are flying Fokker 50 aircraft, it is an old & discontinued model of plane.

that doesnt mean its a bad airplane, just cheap to buy and operate
and there probably mas airplanes. so, well maintained

[Nautilus]

Fokker are one of the safest planes i have flew.

[LivinLOS]

I quite like flying short hops on twin props.. I used to have to fly on the KLM city hoppers to carry a cashbag regularly.. Those used to be twin prop jobs..

[landofsmiles]

They're not THAT old. Production ran from 1987 - 1996.

[aussie45]

The Fokker 50"s are quite nice to travel on, they are a lot quiter than the old F27's which they are based on. Still use them here in Western Australia, in fact Skywest have just bought another. I believe they are very reliable

[wavecruzer]

I would be happy to fly in F50, I was with Ansett when they were first introduced to Australia. At first the F50 had a poor history of engine flame outs with out warning. (This made them a lot quieter than the F27s) That problem has since been fixed. MAS have a great service history and have many Aussie pilots and engineers working for them.

[Crustasian]

Yesterday I tried booking flights at a travel agent.She said there were no such flights but I convinced her and she phoned Malaysia Air in Phuket town.They told her bookings cannot be done through agent but direct through their office. (076 234467) I tried all afternoon to get through -no luck.

I then went on to the Firefly link through here and got their 24 hour booking office number. (+ 60-3-7845-4543) I dialed and got the message "for English select 1 which I did and after three minutes of dialing tone I gave up.

In the end I have E mailed them direct to see if I can get my flights.

Web: <www.fireflyz.com.my>

E mail: info@fireflyz.com.my

This will happen until they have their own booking system up and running on their web site.

[Crustasian]

On Sunday I received a reply stating that they would not do booking by E mail and advised me to go to their Phuket office and do it there.

Today I went through to Phuket to the Malaysia Airline office to do the booking.The staff there said that they do not handle any bookings for Firefly -A FCUKING AFTERNOON WASTED.

So after a trip to Nikita's bar for a few beer Laos to calm myself down I went back to Faultys and tried again on the 24 Hour hotline.Got through and was treated to 10 minutes of elevator music

Eventually got answered and told the giy I wanted to book on Firefly to Penang from Phuket.I gave him my dates 8th to 11th April.Next thing he says is that he airline is not opening that route until 13th April.I told him that then the web site was wrong. .

And so tonight I have just printed half a rain forest and done my four Air Asia flights.

[DREW]

Interesting this one, I love Penang and the E&O Hotel and Slippery Sinoritas oposite for the nightlife.

Eastern & Oriental Hotel

Slippery Senoritas :: SS Club

This makes stopping in Penang for a few days before flying to Phuket, a really easy option, rather than having to fly through KL or Singapore.

I might try this in the Summer.

Can someone please ley me know what the flight is like when you have travelled with them.

Many Thanks

Drew

[plahgat]

Hi, guys!
I'm in Penang right now, and have just bought my first ticket with Firefly!
Latest news are they started flying to Phuket today on 13 of april and they will start to fly Penang - Koh Samui on 15 of april!
I bought my ticket directly from Malaysian Airlines office in Georgetown.
Their online booking is now opened as well so you can book from Internet!
Bought my ticket for 39 RM + taxes and insurance fees 151 RM
= Total price 190 RM ( about 2000 baht).
I will fly from Penang on 19 of april, Thai Consulate is closed for the holidays and will not open until tuesday 17, and visa will be ready on wednesday 18 in the afternoon, and my flight back "home" leaves at 11.30 on 19 of april.
I will post my views on this new airline and their services, once I'm back in Thailand.

Plahgat

[plahgat]

Flew back to Thailand yesterday on Firefly.
Flight was quick and smooth except that the clouds around Samui made the landing a bit bumpy!
They left on time 11.30 and flew faster than expected took only 1 hour 10 minutes, 20 minutes faster than scheduled!
Maybe because of the light cargo; 2 farangs 1 jap and 10 malaysians, and the 2 stewardesses and 2 pilots!
Nothing more to add really fast and reliant and I will fly again!
Just hope that more people will fly with them so that the service is still around for my next visa-rest-and escape the Songkran-run next year!

Plahgat

[AngloTeuton]

Originally Posted by Nautilus

Firefly
Flies to Phuket also from Penang.
2,000 free seats to mark start of operation
PENANG:

Report: Penang visa run by omnibus, automobile and Firefly
Recently I made another visa run to Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia.

This time I decided to do it on my own since none of the 5000-baht visa run services on Phuket was going at a convenient date and I was anxious to try out the new non-stop Penang-Phuket air service by Firefly AL (div of Malaysia AL).
Web: Firefly - Malaysia's first community airline
E mail: info@fireflyz.com.my
I left the Phuket town bus terminal at about 20.30 on a clean 2nd class bus to Hat Yai at the cost of THB 350. It arrived at that epicentre of the restive South at the ungodly hour of 02.oo. The bus terminal is well lit and there was an armed cop to guard it, sleeping at his desk. The neighbourhood is kind of spooky but one very nice looking lady kept her outdoor restaurant open all night with a football game on TV and a bunch of bike and tuk-tuk drivers hanging about (who informed me that the hostess was available for ST). This was right in front of three travel agencies, which all were supposed to open at o4.oo to sell tickets to Penang, KL, Singapore and points between.

Other buses arrived from Phuket later, so if you want to take the same trip, take the next to last one, leaving Phuket at 21.30. If you miss that one there’s another at 21.45 (VIP class at ~THB 575). Another visa-running ferang from a later bus joined me and we conspired to share a taxi rather than wait for the first minibus due at o6.oo.

At o4.o5 the first agent opened his office and we negotiated a fare of THB 2400 for the both of us, right to the Thai Consulate at Nr 1 Jalan Tunku Abdul Raman, Georgetown, and then wait and drive us to the Continental Hotel on Jalan Penang.

The car was an old Toyota, clean but the A/C did not work and the brakes squealed and pulled to the left (not too scary as the driver went very slowly and there were seatbelts)

Soon we reached the border and made it across in <10 minutes (Thai immi charged THB 10 for clearing us out).

Crossing from Thailand into Malaysia was like crossing from Tijuana to San Diego. Everything is clean and pretty, neat tract houses, clean, modern factories, occasional theme parks, mosques and temples on either side of the smoothly paved motorway. Flowerbeds with automatic sprinklers in the median! Trash collectors on motorbikes picking up the fallout of snack and soft drink consumption along the sides of the road!

We crossed Georgetown harbour on a car ferry (RMY 7.70 for a relaxing, fun cruise) and arrived in front of the Thai consulate in a park-like upmarket part of the island at o9.35. There were only about 5 other petitioners (NZ, Austria, Oz, Gambia, USA) in line and by the time I had the very short form filled out it was my turn already. I handed over my passport, 2 photos (front view, light background, no logos on shirts) and the visa fee in RMY (can be anywhere from 100 – 600 depending on the type of visa). Their hours are 9.oo-12.oo and 12.oo – 16.oo. E-mail: thaip(at)tm.net.my

Since I had been recommended by higher-ups in BKK and by special request (don’t ask ;-) my visa was processed on the spot. Everybody else had to return next day after 14.oo. So at 10.oo I was free to go. I still had a taxi ride into downtown good and from there I explored the possibilities. Chulia Rd is lined with money changers and travel agents and everybody was giving me contradictory advice. They all seemed to hate Firefly since they only book over the Internet (firefly.com) and the telephone. But local (Hindu) citizens told me just to take the city bus Nr 34 (yellow, old, the only ugly items on Penang) to the airport (50 min) and buy my ticket there.

The bus ride was indeed quick and cheap (RMY 2.40) meandered all over Georgetown stopping at several hotels, and dropped me off 100 m from the front gate (just as almost everywhere the local taxi mafia must have lobbied against door-door public transit to an airport). A kindly, elegant looking flight attendant almost led me by the hand from the bus stop to the main door.

The Firefly desk is right on the ground floor and I made my ticket purchase with a credit card for RMY 190 to HKT including all junk fees and taxes. They advertise a fare of RMY 39 and even “2000 free tickets”, but of course that is w/o the add-ons, like a RMY 20.- “fuel surcharge” and RMY 3.70 “administrative fee”+ government taxes. When will they ever learn not to “bait & switch”?). But as I had read all the fine print in advance this was no surprise and still a good value. 1 RMY = ~30 US-cents).

The airport is small, clean and rather quiet. The restaurants and shops on the ticketing/check-in (15 kg luggage limit!) level are pricey but offer all you might want in food, drink and souvenirs). Malaysian immigration and security cleared me out in a few seconds. The duty-free section had a large Swiss watch and Montblanc fountain pen shop which did a brisk trade. The prices seemed even lower than at their branch in Singapore and of course way below the rip-off prices at HKT, BKK and Andaman Club Casino, Burma. Thais believe chocolates are better and cheaper in Malaysia but I could not verify that.

The plane was a high-wing, twin-turboprop Fokker 50 built for short hauls and rough runways. Only about 10 of the 55 seats were filled.

We left right on time at 14.20, had a very scenic low-level flight over the off-shore islands, and Phang–Na Bay and arrived at 14.20 HKT-time, an hour later, and it was “welcome back to reality!” The lines at immi were long and the processing slow and tedious. It took about 45 min get through. By then the hoped for airport bus had long left and there was a big hole in the schedule in the afternoon (~hourly to 14.30 then 16.oo and on the hour to 20.oo, call 076 23 2371). The 16.oo bus did not show up, neither the 17.oo one. By then I had found the above phone nr and called. Disaster: no buses were running at all that