KUCHING: The stoppage of FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd (Firefly) flight linkage to East Malaysia since last month has created futher growth opportunities for MASwings Sdn Bhd (MASwings), although there is no confirmation yet from its parent company, Malaysia Airlines Systems Bhd (MAS).
Market speculation was rife that MASwings would be the regional airline carrier for East Malaysia, serving Sabah and Sarawak, and at the same time, facilitating the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Area (BIMP-Eaga) regions.
However, Sarawak Tourism Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Openg said it was still too early to conclude anything yet but definitely, with more shares, the state would have better say in the running of MASwings in its operations.
“As a regional airline, MASwings will have to fly to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Hong Kong. These are important hubs in the region.
“But first, it must acquire at least four jetliners before it can start operating as a regional airline,” he said recently.
MAS’s senior employee who preferred to remain anonymous said, “This is all about coping with changes in the aviation industry. The cancellation that we are seeing today is part and parcel of day to day operations. We were informed that there are still some discussions going on between the airlines.
“What matters most is not so much the frequency of the aircraft, it is about filling up the slots throughout the day. There is no point having four to five airlines operating between the same desinations and yet the slots are back to back. It is better to have lesser frequency but well spread throughout the day,” he added.
Firefly started its flight linkage to the East Malaysian market early this year on January 15, having two flights daily from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. Not reaching a year of service, after the share swap between AirAsia Bhd and MAS, Firefly halted its flight services to Sarawak and Sabah.
More question marks arose when the resignation news of Firefly chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Eddy Leong became public. It was later confirmed by MAS group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya that Leong would be replaced by Ignatius Ong Ming Choy as chief operating officer (COO) of its short-haul operations effective December 10,
Leong would remain in the MAS Group until December 31, and would be joining Destination Resorts and Hotels, a unit of Khazanah Nasional Bhd as COO, it said in a recent statement.
According to a recent news reports, there were speculations that Firefly could cease to exist by April next year.