Budget airline Firefly has denied claims that its advertisement in conjunction with Valentine's Day is sexist or discriminatory to women.

"The advert that you see is not sexist or to discriminate women.

"It doesn't show any particular, exposed or touched body parts but those are (of) our cabin crew in their day-to-day uniform, just without the face or full body photos.

"Angles as shown in the advertisement are 70-80 percent frontal and not towards the back or side parts," a Firefly spokesperson told Malaysiakini when contacted.

Firefly was asked to respond to criticism by the Penang Women Development Corporation, which described the advertisement as an "objectification of women".

The spokesperson said briefing was done prior to the photo shoot to ensure the cabin crew were comfortable.

"This does not have any sexual elements or encouraging any forms of harassment," said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson also defended the advertisement, which referenced 'Fifty Shades Darker', the recently released sequel to hit Hollywood film 'Fifty Shades of Grey', which has been described as an erotic romantic drama.

The spokesperson said that it was not uncommon for Firefly advertisements to reference popular movies or television programmes.

"If you check out our printed advertisement and social media we have (also) done 'Orange is a new black' for Black Friday promotion," said the spokesperson.

'Orange is the New Black' is a US TV series set in a minimum-security federal prison for women.