GEORGE TOWN: Firefly, a subsidiary of Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS), is believed to be returning to its jet operations as early as next year.
It had to abandon its money-making routes to Sabah and Sarawak following the nowaborted MAS-AirAsia strategic collaboration exercise.
Business Times has learnt that Firefly is considering Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier Aerospace as a potential aircraft supplier to diversify from its current fleet of French-Italian-made turbo-propeller planes ATR.
“It is not known if Firefly will reinstate the East Malaysia routes, but other routes being considered when the community airline expands into jets are Myanmar and Vietnam,” aviation sources said.
Responding to Business Times’ query, MAS Sdn Bhd (formerly known as FlyFirely Sdn Bhd) chief executive officer Ignatius Ong said: “We are looking at all turboprop options on the table which can cater to our existing network for increases in frequencies, as well as a longer range within Asean to give us more potential destinations.
“I will not focus on any specific manufacturer for now until we are more finalised in our approach,” he added.
MAS had, since early 2011, used Firefly to compete against AirAsia by launching competitively-priced flights from Kuala Lumpur to Sabah and Sarawak.
In October last year, the national carrier said the Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by Firefly will be redeployed into the parent company’s operations, effective December 4 2011.
MAS had, at the time, cited heavy losses being incurred by Firefly’s jet operations, although the community airline’s financials such as profit and loss statements have never been disclosed by the parent company.
Bombardier has been in the aerospace industry for 25 years and is touted as the world’s third largest civil aircraft manufacturer.
In recent years, the aircraft maker has won more new contracts around the world after it moved beyond the production of executive jets and entered the regional jet market.
It had to abandon its money-making routes to Sabah and Sarawak following the nowaborted MAS-AirAsia strategic collaboration exercise.
Business Times has learnt that Firefly is considering Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier Aerospace as a potential aircraft supplier to diversify from its current fleet of French-Italian-made turbo-propeller planes ATR.
“It is not known if Firefly will reinstate the East Malaysia routes, but other routes being considered when the community airline expands into jets are Myanmar and Vietnam,” aviation sources said.
Responding to Business Times’ query, MAS Sdn Bhd (formerly known as FlyFirely Sdn Bhd) chief executive officer Ignatius Ong said: “We are looking at all turboprop options on the table which can cater to our existing network for increases in frequencies, as well as a longer range within Asean to give us more potential destinations.
“I will not focus on any specific manufacturer for now until we are more finalised in our approach,” he added.
MAS had, since early 2011, used Firefly to compete against AirAsia by launching competitively-priced flights from Kuala Lumpur to Sabah and Sarawak.
In October last year, the national carrier said the Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by Firefly will be redeployed into the parent company’s operations, effective December 4 2011.
MAS had, at the time, cited heavy losses being incurred by Firefly’s jet operations, although the community airline’s financials such as profit and loss statements have never been disclosed by the parent company.
Bombardier has been in the aerospace industry for 25 years and is touted as the world’s third largest civil aircraft manufacturer.
In recent years, the aircraft maker has won more new contracts around the world after it moved beyond the production of executive jets and entered the regional jet market.
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