New Malaysian Budget airline Penang to Phuket and Samui

Bangkok Post

"Malaysia's Firefly begins Thai service
BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA

Firefly, the new no-frills carrier created by Malaysia Airlines (MAS), will today begin offering services out of Malaysia, with Thailand as its first foreign destination. Its two maiden outbound flights, from Penang to Phuket and Penang-Samui, will operate on a daily basis using the airline's two Dutch-made Fokker F50 turboprop airliners, each capable of carrying 50 passengers. The two routes are not served by any other commercial airlines and the Malaysian low-cost carrier (LCC) hopes to capture new traffic potential, especially for leisure, according to industry sources.

Applying the LCC internet-based booking systems, Firefly is offering tickets on the Thailand-bound flights at one-way rates starting from as low as 39 ringgit (367 baht), excluding taxes and surcharges. Firefly began commercial operations on April 3 between Penang and the Malaysian cities of Langkawi, Kota Bahru, Kuantan and Kuala Trengganu, with a total of 14 weekly flights.

Firefly will be serving routes that are not financially viable for its parent carrier to operate, as well as complementing MAS's network plan and breaking new ground to capture a new market segment. More specifically, it aims to offer the northern peninsular Malaysia routes, as well as those to the neighbouring regions from its base in Penang.

Billing itself as a community airline, Firefly is Malaysia's second low-cost carrier to get off the ground after the runaway success of AirAsia, which in slightly over five years has become Southeast Asia's largest no-frills airline, with orders for a fleet of 200 Airbus A320s jetliners.

Tony Fernandes, AirAsia's group chief executive, said he was not worried about Firefly entering the low-cost carrier market due to its limitations. ''It (Firefly) is a fly. We (AirAsia) are a lot bigger than a bird, a buffalo,'' he told the Bangkok Post.

With just two propeller planes in operation and no official fleet expansion plan, the future of Firefly remains unclear, industry sources said.

AirAsia operates a fleet of 52 jetliners, a combination of Boeing 737-300s and Airbus A320s, serving over 80 domestic and international routes in 10 countries in this region. Along with its sister airlines, Thai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia, AirAsia has carried over 30 million passengers. By 2013, the group aims to carry 54 million passengers."

Bangkok Post

http://www.fireflyz.com.my/

Just checked the site out and got the (0) price offer on seats for weekend 27 - 30 April plus taxes about 1000 baht, Phuket to Penang. BUT put the fun back into flying Prop planes Folker one half hour trip.