Malaysia's new low-cost carrier Firefly, which will begin service in April with two Fokker 50s, is confident it will help boost the revenue of national carrier Malaysia Airlines.

Eddy Leong, managing director of FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, said Firefly would be a profitable venture as "we work from a low-cost base."

"We are a no-frills airline, offering point-to-point travel with fares from as low as RM9.

"Firefly is about taking people off the roads, ferries and boats and getting them to their destinations faster," he was quoted as saying by the New Sunday Times .

Leong said the capital cost of running the airline would be kept low and would work on a 15-minute turnaround time model.

Firefly would be the only airline connecting three popular destinations - Malaysia's northern Penang state, Koh Samui and Phuket (in southern Thailand), allowing the carrier to capture the foreign tourist market.

2,000 free seats

Leong said Firefly would offer 2,000 free seats in April to woo travellers, and bookings would begin Monday. The new airline will take-off from April 2 from Penang International Airport.

Officials say Firefly has the potential to tap into the huge population of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle - which comprises north Sumatra, Aceh (in Indonesia), Penang, Perak, Kedah, Perlis (in Malaysia) and southern Thailand.

Asia's low-cost sector is booming and was pioneered more than five years ago by AirAsia, operated by Malaysia's Tony Fernandes.

Malaysia Airlines said Firefly would operate twice-daily services out of the northern tourist island of Penang to Kota Bahru in northern Kelantan state, to Langkawi island, as well as to Kuantan and Kuala Terengganu.

Firefly would also have a daily service to Thailand's Phuket and Koh Samui.

Firefly was expected to break even in its first year of operation and start making a profit from next year.

Malaysia Airlines last month reported a RM136.4 million net loss for the 2006 financial year, a better-than-expected result after major restructuring.

Losses at the state-owned national carrier were down from the RM1.14 billion reported for 2005.