Firefly (FY, Penang) has announced it will resume B737-800 operations out of Penang on April 11, 2022, after its first venture into the jet market was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic nearly as soon as it started.
The Malaysian carrier will connect the northern island with Johor Bahru (2x daily), Kuching, and Kota Kinabalu (daily each). It plans to add an additional daily frequency on all three routes starting on April 25. The initial schedule will require two B737-800s, with the third unit of the type necessary for the ramp-up in late April.
Firefly, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia Aviation Group, started B737-800 operations out of Penang in May 2021, using three aircraft transferred from Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur International). However, each of the three B737s ran just one rotation before the airline was forced to suspend this part of its operations. It subsequently returned the trio to its parent.
Firefly indicated earlier that it would restart jet operations once market conditions improve.
Firefly did not respond to ch-aviation's question concerning the identity of the B737s it will operate.
The airline's legacy business model relies on twelve ATR72-500s operating domestic flights (and, while they were permitted, services to Singapore Seletar) out of Kuala Lumpur Subang and Penang. Its history with jet aircraft includes the operation of two B737-400s between 2011 and 2014, and six -800s in 2011, the ch-aviation fleets history module shows.
