The Malaysian Insight

MALAYSIA’S Firefly Airlines is looking to restart its Singapore route soon, with final approvals from both Malaysian and Singapore aviation authorities for the airline to land in Seletar airport expected as early as within the second quarter of the year.

Sources told The Malaysian Insight this latest development came about as a result of “good discussions between both sides” in the past few weeks.

“(We) have had good progress,” a highly placed source told The Malaysian Insight.

“If we get approval from the Malaysian and Singapore side, the answer is ‘yes’,” he said of the plan to begin flying into Singapore by the middle of the year.

However, the source is unable to confirm a date, saying that the short-haul carrier is now focused on ensuring that approvals from both aviation authorities are “watertight”.

Firefly was originally slated to fly into Seletar from December 1, 2018, but a check with the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) last October revealed that the instrument-landing system (ILS) there was not approved on the grounds that it would interfere with development in Johor’s Pasir Gudang port.

As such, Firefly could not be given the approval to operate from Seletar.

At the same time, the airline lost its landing slots at Changi International Airport, where it was operating 20 daily flights directly from Subang.

The airspace dispute has cost the airline millions of ringgit in losses as a result of its cancelled Singapore route.

In January, both countries extended a truce with Malaysia suspending the restricted status of an area in Pasir Gudang, which it earlier declared a military training zone, while Singapore postponed the implementation of the ILS at Seletar.

The source at Firefly said once approvals are obtained from both countries, the airline will begin its first flight within a matter of weeks.

“We must give time to our vendors and the airports to redeploy resources on the ground,” he said, adding that the airline is ready to initiate training and test flights immediately after obtaining the green light.

Firefly CEO Philip See told The Malaysian Insight earlier this year he had been holding regular meetings with officials from both Changi and Seletar since the dispute broke out.

The airline had hoped to resume its flights into Singapore by the Lunar New Year last month.

In January, Malaysia Airlines Group chief executive officer Izham Ismail said Firefly, which is a subsidiary of the group, has lost up to RM20 million as a result of the flight suspension. – March 23, 2019.