SINGAPORE—Malaysia Aviation Group, the parent company of Malaysia Airlines, says it will transfer the flag-carrier’s routes within Borneo to its LCC arm Firefly from May 16 as part of a “strategic route rationalization plan.”
Firefly will launch once-daily Boeing 737-800 flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Kuching (KCH), Sandakan (SDK), and Tawau (TWU), as well as Kuching to Miri (MYY).
Firefly currently operates to East Malaysia from Penang, flying to KCH and BKI. Malaysia is separated by the South China Sea into Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia, which shares the island of Borneo with Indonesia and Brunei.
Malaysia Aviation Group CEO Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azmi says in a statement that Malaysia Airlines saw a good customer response since introducing 737 operations within East Malaysia in 2022 and will “remain responsive to the changing demands of its customers and leverage the prevailing market conditions.”
The move frees up Malaysia Airlines 737-800s for international operations out of the carrier’s Kuala Lumpur hub.
According to CAPA/OAG data, the largest airline operating from Kota Kinabalu in terms of weekly capacity is AirAsia, followed by Malaysia Airlines. Firefly comes in at fifth place. However, domestically, Malaysia Airlines edges out AirAsia. Kuala Lumpur remains the most important route from Kota Kinabalu, followed by Seoul Incheon, Penang and Taipei.
Newcomer MYAirline has also announced it will join the fray and commence Kota Kinabalu-Tawau flights.
Firefly currently flies four 737-800s and nine ATR 72-500s.
Related Content
