MORE PLANES TO BOOST TOURISM

Great news for people traveling out of Subang airport. Community airline Firefly has taken delivery of the first of 20 ATR72-600 turboprop aircraft it ordered last December, bringing the total number of aircraft in its fleet to 13. The other 12 aircraft in the Firefly fleet are the 70-seater ATR72-500s.

 

The ATR72-600s will be delivered in phases within the next five to six years. Besides the 20 confirmed orders, Firefly has an option to acquire 16 more of the ATR72-600s.

 

Firefly chief executive officer Ignatius Ong received the aircraft from ATR chief executive officer Filippo Bagnato in a simple ceremony here.

The aircraft was ferried home out of Toulouse-Blagnac Airport yesterday. The flight will make four stops - three night stops in Greece, Oman and Maldives and one refuelling stop in Bahrain - before arriving Subang Airport on Sunday evening. The new aircraft will begin operations on July 12 to Johor Baru.

 

Ong said the new aircraft is part of Firefly's growth and expansion plan “as well as our continuous effort to serve our customers better”. “Our exclusive ATR72 fleet has allowed us to develop a unique high frequency network out of Subang, Penang and Johor Baru. The ATR aircraft are unrivalled in terms if passenger comfort and environmentally friendliness. This will further improve guests' experience."

 

The wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines currently operates out of Subang and Penang, connecting secondary destinations within the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand growth triangle as well as providing air linkages between Malaysia and Singapore.