Flights on the new route are scheduled to run once in each direction on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with the same departure time from Penang. The return flight from Koh Samui leaves at 09:35 Thai time.
Koh Samui is one of southern Thailand’s popular holiday islands and Penang a bastion of Malaysian culture and heritage. The two islands are 600kms apart and travelling between them by ferries and train or bus can take up to 24 hours.
When Firefly begins flying the route on Thursday it will be the only carrier operating direct flights between the two destinations. Firefly is based at Subang Airport near Kuala Lumpur and is a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, the Malaysian national flag carrier.
Firefly was launched in 2007 and now operates on routes linking major destinations in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. As well as the Samui-Penang route, the carrier will start flying between the two Malaysian towns of Johor Bahru and Ipoh next Monday.
New air route from Samui to Penang
News in Asia
Southeast Asian regional airline Firefly is all set for the launch of its new route between the islands of Koh Samui and Penang this week. The first service is scheduled to depart from Penang at 08:35 on 11 September and land on Samui 1 hour and 10 minutes later.