Medan, Monday 1st December 2008- Firefly, your community airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines launched its latest new route by flying direct into Medan from Subang-Kuala Lumpur.

Medan – Subang  1x Daily  SZB-MES 1415/1430LT
                                       MES-SZB 1450/1705LT

Firefly’s brand new aircraft, the ATR72-500 departed Subang Airport today at 1415pm making its inaugural flight into Polonia Airport in Medan. The aircraft that arrived at 2.30pm local time saw the Representative from the Governor of North Sumatra, Bapak Sinatopong, Kepala Dinas Perhubungan, North Sumatra gracing the event accompanied by Consulate General of Malaysia in Medan, Mr. Fauzi Omar and Director Tourism Malaysia for Sumatra, Mr Noor Azman Samsudin. Special invited guests on board were Dato’ Subahan Kamal, Chairman of Majlis Tindakan Pelancongan Negeri Selangor and his entourage representing Selangor Tourism Office. 

In a ceremony attended by both Medan local media and Malaysia’s media together with the representatives from North Sumatera Tourism Board in Medan, Malaysia Tourism Board in Medan and North Sumatera Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Representative from the Governor of North Sumatra mentioned in his speech that “Firefly’s direct connectivity from Subang-Kuala Lumpur to Medan is unique and is very much welcomed by the citizens of Medan. Its unique feature is in its airport location, which is only 20 minutes away from the city.  This not only saves time but is also much more economical and this is what I call truly incredible value with low fares”. 

He added that he looks forward to welcome more Malaysians and other visitors into North Sumatra(Medan) and acknowledged the positive collaboration between Firefly, Selangor Tourism Action Council and the North Sumatera Tourism Board in its cross promotion efforts. 

“Firefly is a full fledged IMT-GT airline.  Our network expansion into Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand is proceeding at full speed and is on track.   In-fact by the end of 2009 1st quarter, we will be introducing many more new destinations in this growth triangle.  We have also started marketing our Sumatera routes for stopovers to long haul travelers and with the launch of Firefly’s code share with our parent company Malaysia Airlines in early 2009, Medan can definitely expect an exponential growth of visitors” said Mr. Eddy Leong, Managing Director of Firefly, in his speech at the event to mark Firefly’s inaugural direct flight from Subang-Kuala Lumpur to Medan.  He reiterated many times that Firefly flies with their brand new fleet of ATR72-500, an auto-turbo propeller aircraft which is very well known  and recognized  for its safety feature and reliability.  Equipped with the state of the art technologies, the ATR72-500 offers a luxurious flying experience. “I am certain that once you fly with us and enjoy our incredible value with low fares, you would always want to fly with us again” highlighted Eddy Leong.

He closed his speech with a teaser for customers to watch out for Firefly’s Explosive announcement that will be coming soon. “Lets just say it’s that this explosive announcement will truly rock your flying experience  and of course its always and will always be about our incredible values with low fares!!!” with a wink.

Firefly did a flying kick-start into Sumatera on the 26th of October 2008, to Medan and Banda Aceh from Penang, and to Pekanbaru from Subang. Firefly also flew into Johor Bahru  from Subang, marking its entrance into their 3rd hub, and  to Koh Samui direct  from Subang giving more convenience to our local travellers and international tourists.

Firefly operates directly from Subang and Penang airports. Their new aircraft is all about COMFORT. It provides a generous 20kg baggage allowance with NO additional charge. Operating with smaller aircraft means less congestion at check-ins and baggage collection thus enhancing customer convenience satisfaction and flying experience with jet-like comfort.

This convenience also includes designated allocated seating for all passengers. And to cap it all is its variety of complimentary refreshment and light snack on board.  All these values for LOW FARES.

By August next year, Firefly would operate with a total of 10 ATR72-500 serving both domestic and regional routes, including network expansion into Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. With such modern and advanced aircraft, Firefly is keen to start its services to other Sumatran provinces such as Jambi, Padang, Bengkulu and Pangkal Pinang, as well as Pulau Batam, and Thailand by next year using three hubs – Subang, Penang, Johor Bahru.  Firefly commenced its inaugural flights from Subang to Koh Samui and Johor Bahru on the 26th October 2008.

The ATR72-500 is a cost-effective short-haul aircraft manufactured by ATR, an European joint venture between EADS and FINMENCCANICA via its subsidiary Alenia Aeronautica. Benefiting from the in-service experience of more than 670 ATR aircraft flying worldwide, it boasts proven average dispatch reliability of 99.6%.

Equipped with state of the art technologies, the ATR 72-500 is also a very reliable and easy-to-maintain aircraft, and offers optimal performance in the short-haul routes operated by Firefly.

The unique features of ATR compliment Firefly business operations in terms of network coverage in the secondary routes that could not be viably served by the single-aisle jet aircraft. It consumes substantially less fuel and incurs lower operating and maintenance cost. In short, it is cost efficient. It is also very environmental friendly. These are essential and significant features for our business model. 

Firefly Holidays

Enjoy the ease and convenience of planning your holidays with just a click of the mouse with Firefly Holidays. With more than just flights, Firefly Holidays offers a variety of accommodation options to complete your planning, be it for business trips, leisure holidays to visit friends and family or even relaxing getaways at some of the nicest beaches in the region.

You can even customize your own package: select the flight of your choice for your holiday and complement it with your preferred accommodation and you’re off to your perfect getaway. The best thing is that your customized packages are guaranteed to be one of the lowest priced in town!!!

Firefly Holidays is easily accessible online at www.fireflyz.com.my anytime, any day wherever you are. With just a few simple guided steps online, you get immediate confirmation and all you have to do then is to look forward to your holiday.
www.fireflyz.com.my

Firefly
Firefly, your community airline was launched in April 2007. It is operated by FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd and a wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysian Airline System (MAS) Berhad. The name ‘Firefly’ (fei ying) represents the airline’s personality, which incorporates agility, brilliance, charm and fun.
For more information about Firefly, please kindly contact Herman Mizar Azmi, Communications & Marketing Department at herman.mizarazmi@malaysiaairlines.com or +6012-363 6767 / +62 813 60877 369