Firefly gears up on revenue initiatives, will not increase capacity in 2017

Firefly Airlines, the Malaysian budget carrier and fully-owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, will not increase capacity this year after decreasing its fleet size from 18 to 12 and "rationalising" its network last year.According to the Business Times, the carrier exited Koh Samui and Medan due to a sluggish economy and "weaker ringgit". Frequencies on some domestic routes were also reduced. Ignatius Ong, CEO of Firefly Airlines, said it does not want to increase capacity if the market is unable to handle the move, but it will review its network again next year.Meanwhile, the airline is leveraging on the "500,000 passengers" in its database by taking on initiatives to create revenue, and also add value to its consumers. These include the sale of handphones and laptops via its online store, partnerships with Samsung and Acer to offer the latest Samsung Galaxy 8, as well as selling insurance on travel and car. It is also collaborating with travel and e-commerce sites such as Expedia and Grab respectively.Earlier this year, Firefly launched its e-wallet, FY e-wallet, allowing travellers to purchase tickets without cash. This was primarily introduced to cater for its frequent flyers and its majority passengers who are the corporate travellers.A+M has reached out to Firefly for comment.