FlyFirefly, operator of Firefly, the community airline, completed its first phase of route expansion last year.

It currently serves 16 cities in four countries, said Firefly Head of Marketing and Communications Angelina Fernandez.

Details of the second phase expansion and delivery of three ATR72-500 aircraft would be announced by Managing Director Datuk Eddy Leong, she told reporters after launching Firefly’s new booking channel, Firefly Mobile Application.

Firefly planned to have 10 ATR72-500 aircraft and had already received seven such planes. However, the airline has delayed the delivery of three aircraft to this year due to the global economic crisis.

The Firefly Mobile Application is a convenient option for air travellers to book flights via mobile phone. It is an additional channel besides the website, call centre, ticketing offices and travel agents.

Angelina said Firefly expects a five per cent sales growth via website from 70 per cent currently by the first quarter of this year driven by increased website usage.

She said the Firefly Mobile was just the beginning and more features would be introduced this year like flight change details, flight check-in and expanding the services to travel agents.

Firefly Mobile Application is a free application that will work with most of the mobile phone supporting Java application and Blackberry and with WAP, GPRS, EDGE or 3G data connections.

Angelina said iPhone and Windows Mobile versions would be available soon. This system is jointly developed by Firefly and Second Wind Sdn Bhd.

In conjunction with the launch, Firefly is offering RM1 fare for all flight bookings through mobile phone from today till Jan 28.

Source: Bernama