KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 — Malaysia's budget carrier Firefly yesterday morning made its inaugural landing at Singapore's Seletar Airport in the first test flight there, ahead of its plans to start using the airport later this month.
Singapore daily The Straits Times (ST) reported the plane from Firefly left at 12.30pm, about an hour after landing, and that Singaporean aviation authorities confirmed the test flight.
A Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore's (CAAS) spokesman was quoted saying that the authority and the Changi Airport Group would "continue to facilitate more test flights as requested by Firefly" ahead of the latter starting services using the Seletar Airport.
ST also reported a Firefly spokesman as saying that there will be more test flights by the carrier before it starts its Singapore operations on April 21.
Firefly, which previously operated Malaysia-Singapore flights, was last year forced to suspend all flights to Singapore amid an airspace dispute between the two countries.
The airline had suspended its operations in Singapore from December 1 after it failed to get approval from Malaysian authorities to relocate its operations from Singapore’s Changi Airport to Seletar Airport.
On April 6, Malaysia and Singapore in a joint announcement said both nations have struck an agreement to end their airspace dispute, and that Firefly would be able to start flying to Seletar Airport this month.
On Monday, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said Firefly will fly to Singapore beginning April 21.
