Firefly braces for a drop in passenger numbers in 2017

During a recent press conference to launch Firefly Airlines’ e-wallet, group CEO Ignatius Ong said that the company is launching "many new products to stimulate demand". This is largely because as the airline is expecting to see a decline in passenger number this year, as consumer market conditions are “softer”.Ong was speaking at the launch of the new FY e-wallet which is a cashless method that allows travellers to purchase tickets with Firefly. The FY e-wallet is a prepaid deposit account that will be kept with Firefly and can be used anytime to purchase Firefly’s Flight tickets as well as any of Firefly’s add on products. This would also include all surcharges and taxes that is imposed by Firefly.Reported on The Star, owned by Malaysia Airlines’, the airline expect its passenger number to decline to 1.6 million this year. Free Malaysia Today also quoted Ong saying that while ringgit's depreciation was good in attracting foreigners to the country, a stronger ringgit is needed for Malaysians to travel abroad to regional countries.The airline has also seen a 30% increase in overall cost because transactions are usually "denominated in the US dollar", Ong said.