MALAYSIA-based low-cost carrier (LCC) Firefly is setting up two hubs for its jet aircraft in May at Kota Kinabalu International Airport in Sabah and Senai International Airport in Johor Bahru, adding to existing hubs in Kuala Lumpur – also for its jet aircraft – and in Subang and Penang for its turboprops.
The new hubs will allow the LCC to boost aircraft rotation and increase frequency on existing routes, with its Kota Kinabalu-Kuala Lumpur services set to grow from thrice-daily to six-daily from May 15, and its Kuala Lumpur-Kuching flights to increase from four to seven daily from June 1.
Firefly will be launching additional intra-Malaysia services to take advantage of the new hubs. It will start twice-daily flights from Johor Bahru to Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, using two B737-400 aircraft, on May 19 and June 16 respectively, as well as twice-daily services from Kuala Lumpur to Miri and Sibu, on July 1 and August 1 respectively.
The airline is also planning to introduce services from Johor Bahru to Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung this third quarter and to Bangkok in the fourth quarter, according to its managing director, Eddy Leong.
