Seletar Airport marks reopening as Firefly resumes daily KL-Singapore flights

FIFTY-NINE passengers from Kuala Lumpur, who were on board a Firefly plane, landed at Singapore’s Seletar Airport on Monday (June 13), marking the airport’s reopening to commercial flights after more than 2 years of inactivity due to the pandemic.

This was the first international flight by Firefly - the low-cost arm of Malaysia Aviation Group and the sister company of Malaysia Airlines - after the service was put on hold in March 2020 as the Covid-19 virus began to cripple the aviation industry.

The 72-seater turboprop plane departed Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (also known as Subang International Airport) in Kuala Lumpur and landed at Seletar at about 8.50 am.

For the time being, Firefly will operate 4 flights a day - 2 in each direction between Subang and Singapore. The carrier’s maiden flight from KL to Seletar was in April 2019, and it operated 6 flights a day before the pandemic.

In a news release on Monday, Changi Airport Group said that it conducted multiple operational trials and system tests with Seletar’s airport partners, including the airport’s employees, prior to the resumption of Firefly’s flight services. CAG manages both Changi Airport and Seletar Airport.

Firefly’s chief executive officer Philip See noted that Singapore is an “important destination” for the airline, and the recommencement of the Subang-Singapore route will help to connect leisure and business travellers from both countries, as well as boost the growth of the tourism industry.

SEE ALSO

More Malaysia Airlines flights to be powered by biofuel in next 12 months

“Consumers, particularly corporate fliers, prefer the convenience of both airports and they are thrilled that flight services have resumed,” he told The Business Times.

Asked to give an update on ticket sales, See said that it has been “encouraging” so far and that advance bookings are strong, with between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of this week’s flights already snapped up. Before the pandemic, around 50 per cent to 60 per cent of the seats were taken up on flights on this Subang-Singapore route.

He added that the airline is also looking at introducing a new route between Changi Airport and Penang International Airport in the future, although there is no firm timeline at the moment.