Firefly to meet Changi Airport Group on Friday for landing rights again

Kuala Lumpur — Malaysia’s Firefly continues its fight for its business with its new chief executive officer, Mr Philip See, in Singapore on Friday (Jan 18) to hold talks with the Changi Airport Group (CAG) to petition, once again, for its landing rights into the island republic.

Both countries are currently embroiled in a drawn-out aviation dispute, which has already cost the short-haul carrier tens of millions of ringgit in losses.

Firefly was originally slated to fly into Singapore’s Seletar airport from December 1, 2018, but a check with Malaysian aviation authorities last October revealed that the instrument-landing system (ILS) at Seletar was not approved.

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.

Mr See, who took over in January, said he remains optimistic that his trip on Friday to meet representatives from CAG will result in a positive outcome.

Firefly maintains that Seletar is responsible for obtaining the approvals for the ILS and its failure to do so led to the impasse. The airline, therefore, believes it has the right to be given back its Changi slots until the dispute is resolved.

“I’m optimistic, but things these days are very fluid,” Mr See told The Malaysian Insight ahead of the trip.

Following a bilateral meeting between both countries’ foreign affairs ministers last week, Malaysia agreed to suspend its permanent restricted area in the airspace over Johor’s Pasir Gudang, while Singapore will suspend its implementation of the ILS for a month.

Both ministers reaffirmed the strong ties between Malaysia and Singapore and pledged their commitment to resolving the disputes via diplomatic channels.

The resulting heightened tensions leaves little hope for a speedy resolution to the impasse.

Mr See earlier told The Malaysian Insight that his office sent Changi a letter on January 9 renewing its appeal for a return of Firefly’s landing slots, in light of the “positive” meeting between the two foreign affairs ministers.

Mr See, who was formerly Malaysia Airlines Group (MAG) head of strategy and network, said he is hoping that the airline will be able to resume its “lifeline” direct flights into Singapore by the Lunar New Year next month.

Last week, MAG chief executive officer Izham Ismail told The Malaysian Insight that Firefly, which is a subsidiary of the group, has already lost up to RM20 million (S$6.59 million) as a result of the suspension. THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT