Budget carrier Firefly resumes operations after 5 months

Firefly, Malaysian budget carrier, resumed services after five months due to an airspace dispute between Singapore and Malaysia. There will be two Firefly flights a day between Subang and Seletar Airports from April 22 to 28, followed thereafter by six daily flights.

The airlines flights to Singapore had been suspended in December 2018 after failing to obtain approval from Malaysia's aviation regulator to move its operations from Changi Airport to Seletar Airport. Malaysia had opposed the Instrument Landing System (ILS) procedures in use at Seletar Airport. It argued that it restricted the construction of tall buildings at Johor's Pasir Gudang.

However, Singapore said the ILS simply puts on paper the existing flight paths, making safety rules clearer and more transparent. Singapore's Ministry of Transport (MOT) said the procedures do not impose any additional impact on other airspace users as well as businesses and residents in Johor. Malaysia, after months of negotiations, suspended its permanent Restricted Area over Pasir Gudang indefinitely, while Singapore withdrew the ILS procedures at Seletar Airport. The ILS procedure refers to an assisted navigational aviation facility at the airport which provides vertical and horizontal guidance to pilots while the flight is descending and approaching the runway.