Low-cost airline, Firefly took steps to upgrade their services by opening the long-awaited Ipoh-Johor Bahru flight route. Operating at Ipoh’s Sultan Azlan Shah Airport, the new route augments Firefly’s long-standing Ipoh-Singapore route introduced in 2012.
Executive Councillor for Tourism and Culture, Dato’ Nolee Ashilin Mohd Radzi told reporters that she was confident the new route would be readily accepted by the public thus helping to boost the tourism sector in Perak. She believed the effort by Firefly could help the state government realise its objective of bringing five million tourists to Perak by the end of 2014.
“The aircraft is almost full and this is a positive sign” she said at the launching ceremony of the new flight route on Monday, September 15 at the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport, Ipoh.
Present at the ceremony was the Director of Tourism Malaysia (Perak), Ibrahim Seddiqi Talib and Firefly’s Marketing Executive, Audrey Yu.
The Ipoh-Johor Bahru route will operate four times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Audrey said that Firefly in conjunction with the launching, offered a promotional fare of RM59 for a one-way ticket for the Ipoh-Johor Bahru route. Members of the public had till September 28 to book the promotional tickets for flights lasting till October 24 next year.
“Firefly is also offering an automated check-in service for customers. They need not queue up in front of the counter to check in for their flight. This will help speed things up,” she added.
Tang Yen Kim, 45, an Ipoh businesswoman, is currently studying at a private institution in Johor Bahru. She told reporters that the Ipoh-Johor Bahru flight was not only convenient but also a time-saver. “I’m delighted that Firefly has decided to include this new route in its schedule. Before this I’d to take a bus or the train to Johor Bahru. It’s so tedious,” she exclaimed.
Kamilah Ahmad Shaharuddin, 79, from Parit told Ipoh Echo that the new route had given her a reason to travel to Johor Bahru. “I was reluctant to travel because of the distance and the time taken. But with this new route in place I have no reason not to go. I believe other senior citizens, as well as the general public, would benefit from this new route,” she said.
She hoped Firefly would provide wheelchairs for the less mobile passengers, as being practised by other major airlines.
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