Firefly was scheduled to transfer its operations from Changi Airport to Seletar Airport in Singapore but has been unable to do so pending talks between Singapore and Malaysian officials.
A diplomatic deadlock between Singapore and Malaysia over air space is resulting in ‘significant’ loss for Malaysia’s short-haul airline, Firefly, the airline says.
Firefly was scheduled to transfer its operations from Changi Airport to Seletar Airport in Singapore but has been unable to do so pending talks between Singapore and Malaysian officials.
The airline says the loss follows the December 1 suspension of flights to Singapore Changi airport.
Firefly outgoing chief executive Ignatius Ong told the New Straits Times that Singapore was the airline’s second largest route after Penang.
“We previously had 10 slots of flights (in-bound and outbound) every day between Subang International Airport and Changi Airport in Singapore. Without this route network, it’s a huge loss for us,” he told NST Business.
Ong said the airline’s suspension was due to the pending approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) for the airline to operate via Seletar Airport.
The turbo-prop operator said the airline would resume its services once the relevant authorities sort out regulatory issues in regard to its move to Seletar.
“Frankly, we have no issue going to Seletar. The terminal is fantastic, it’s similar to Subang Airport - small and agile terminal that facilitates convenience,” he said.
Seletar Airport started operations at its new passenger terminal in November and all scheduled turboprop flights in Singapore had to operate from the new terminal from December 1.