From Wednesday , Malaysian low-cost airline Firefly will join six other Malaysian and Singapore carriers already flying the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route. Firefly, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines (MAS), will head to Subang Airport near the Malaysian capital three times daily, and add one flight from July 15.
The route, once dominated by MAS and Singapore Airlines (SIA), has been progressively opened up to other players in recent times. Firefly's entry brings the tally of weekly flights between the two cities to more than 200.
Ms Angelina Fernandez, Firefly's head of marketing and communications, said bookings are 'going well', with 40 per cent of tickets for the first two weeks already sold. One trump card that Firefly has, she noted, is that its planes land in Subang, which is only a 15-minute drive from Kuala Lumpur city.
Flights by its rivals - MAS, AirAsia, SIA, SilkAir, Jetstar and Tiger Airways - end up in Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang or the low-cost terminal near the main airport.
It may take more than 40 minutes to reach the city from either venue, depending on the choice of transport.
Firefly uses the 72-seat turboprop ATR 72-500 aircraft to serve its network of many small towns that may not be viably served by bigger planes.
It is also launching flights from Singapore to other Malaysian towns such as Ipoh, Kuala Terengganu and Kuantan next month, and Malacca in September.
But in the hotly contested Singapore-Kuala Lumpur sector, is the market big enough for all?
Mr Matt Hobbs, Tiger's head of corporate communications, is confident of its chances, noting that the 'variety of choices now has encouraged many more to fly' rather than take buses.
Over at AirAsia, Ms Kathleen Tan, its regional commercial head, said the airline is not worried about Firefly.
'The market is big enough for all. We're confident about our product because we boast an incredible international network.'
She noted that during 'our sales from June 24 to 28, we sold some 180,000 tickets in the first two days in spite of the H1N1 flu'.
Travel agents in Singapore agree that the greater number of flights has encouraged people to switch from coaches.
Depending on the day of travel, a one-way bus ticket to Kuala Lumpur may cost more than $40.
'We saw a double-digit spike in the number of airline bookings for the Singapore-KL route in June,' said Ms Ruth Lim, marketing and communications manager for SA Tours, who noted that full-service airlines SIA and MAS are also offering very attractive fares of just above $100.
'Many people are willing to pay a little more to fly with them too,' she added.
