| Izah Azahari |
THE introduction of Royal Brunei Airlines (RB) nonstop flight to Heathrow, London is a significant milestone as for the first time, Brunei and the United Kingdom are seamlessly connected by a direct air link.
RB Chief Executive Officer Karam Chand stated this in a welcoming remark at the official launch for RB’s first ever nonstop flight to London with a blessing ceremony at the Brunei International Airport last night.
Guest of honour, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah in his capacity as the Chairman of RB Board of Directors officiated the launch along with Minister of Communications Dato Seri Setia Awang Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Mohammad Yusof, British High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam Richard Lindsay and the RB Chief Executive Officer.
“With the strong cultural, economic and political ties between the two countries, it is only natural for RB to provide the seamless nonstop connection,” said the CEO. “The nonstop flights will also be an enabler for increasing tourism for the UK and Europe.”
RB had announced its daily nonstop flights between Brunei and London earlier this year with the round trip travel time reduced by an average of three hours.
“The nonstop service provides a more attractive option for our guests flying from the other markets – especially on the Melbourne to London route. The introduction of one-stop in Brunei, cuts the flight times by four hours on average to/from Melbourne,” Chand said.
The CEO also said that this makes RB a major player in the Victoria-London market, where their Melbourne-Brunei-London flight is the shortest possible route.
With the launch of the daily nonstop flights to London, RB ceased operations of its Dubai-London-Dubai route. RB will, however, continue to provide the vital link to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) via Dubai and offer four times weekly Brunei-Dubai-Brunei services effective tomorrow. RB has also updated its schedule for Melbourne flights to cater to better connections within its long haul route network.
The CEO said RB is also continuously working towards an improved cabin experience for passengers, where the inflight entertainment has been upgraded to feature 1,000 entertainment options, rolling out new enhancements including an improved amenity kit, turndown service and enhanced noise cancelling headphones for business class passengers, as well new headphones and earpieces for preferred economy and economy class passengers.
“Lastly, with a revitalised network as strong as ours we’re investing in our digital channels to improve our guests’ booking experience,” the CEO said. “This is an ongoing programme at RB with lots more to come, but I’m delighted to give you an exclusive preview of our new web pages including an all-new homepage.”
Chand added that it has been designed with their guests at the centre of their thinking as it is easier than ever now to search for a flight with RB.
“All our content pages have been updated. We have new destination guides featuring schedules and for the RB team it is a new platform to develop on for the future. The new site goes live on Tuesday in the early hours,” the CEO added.
Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew also announced RB’s new direct flights to Kuching, Sarawak.
The British High Commissioner noted the strong relationship between Brunei and the UK over the years.
He highlighted RB’s first flights to London 28 years ago, as well as the ever growing business and educational links between the two countries.
Prior to the ribbon cutting ceremony to officially launch RB’s inaugural nonstop flight to London, the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah and a Doa Selamat was held.
RB launched its first flight to London (Gatwick) via Singapore and Dubai in 1990, and on May 10, 1991, RB began flying twice weekly to London Heathrow.
RB launched its daily flight to London (via Dubai) on May 16, 2004.
RB reminded passengers that check-in procedures for the London flight begins one day prior to the departure date, ie for flight BI1003 on October 28, 2018, from Bandar Seri Begawan to London, check-in on October 27, 2018 before 11.15pm – an hour before departure.