| Azlan Othman |
ROYAL Brunei Airlines (RB) will be adding eight new aircraft to its fleet – comprising seven A320 neo aircraft and one 787 Boeing aircraft, according to RB CEO Karam Chand yesterday who spoke on the sidelines of the launch of RB’s new Royal Brunei holiday packages.
“The aircraft will be delivered starting April next year with the last one expected to be handed over in October. It is a huge development for us. It is a positive one for RB and for the nation as well, and provides more options for us to increase our flight network,” he said.
“The idea is to get brand-new products that will improve customers’ experience and for RB to improve their departure and arrival times. We provide 70 per cent seat capacity between Brunei Darussalam and the rest of the world. As a national carrier, it is important for us to deliver reliable products. Our reliability is the best in the world already.”
He also added that new routes to cities in India are also being looked into.
“North Asia, China and India are big markets for us and it’s not surprising that we are looking into it as there is a growing middle class in these regions and more people are travelling.
“We are already flying to three high-population cities in Indonesia. So don’t be surprised if we eventually fly to India. We haven’t made our decision yet and we are closely looking at all the issues. In the airline industry, there are multiple issues to be looked at such as revenue, cost, ground handling, maintenance, and so on. We have to do our research,” Chand said.
“We recently launched flights to Beijing which has been encouraging and we are continuing to pursue chartered opportunities. Our goal is to connect to as many capital cities as we can which will help (the country) in trade, commerce and tourism,” added the CEO.
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