Royal Brunei Airlines first Boeing 787 Dreamliner enters into service to London

04 Dec 2013  2038 | Business & Trade Fairs

BANDAR SRI BEGAWAN - RBI is slowly completed its transformation journey into a contemporary airline. The rather discreet national carrier of Brunei has been embarked for now a year into a rebranding and modernizing process. A new livery and logo were the first step on Royal Brunei rebranding journey followed by a new website. Although RBI management promised to revamp the lounge and make use of social media in 2013, nothing has been rolled out so far…

However, the most exciting event for passengers is the introduction of the first RBI Boeing 787 Dreamliner into the fleet. The aircraft was delivered by Boeing early October and has been so far put into test service on the Bandar Sri Begawan-Singapore route. At the reception of the aircraft, Dermot Mannion, chairman of Royal Brunei Airlines told that “this exciting addition keeps passenger comfort and high quality service at the heart of our airline and is yet another effort to ensure our fleet remains modern and offers peaceful and tranquil travel. As a small airline we offer truly personal service, delighting our passengers with an authentic Bruneian grace to enrich their journeys."

Passengers traveling on Royal Brunei Airlines will experience larger, electronically-dimmable windows and larger overhead luggage bins. During flight the 787 is pressurized to a lower cabin altitude, has higher humidity levels, advanced air filtration and smoother ride technology to make the flying experience more comfortable and allow passengers to arrive at their destination more refreshed.

The Boeing 787 entered in service on the Bandar Sri Begawan-Dubai-London route, replacing an ageing Boeing 777, helping the carriers to cut fuel costs by 20%. In the second quarter of 2014, it will introduce the 787 on flights to Melbourne, Australia. Four other aircraft B787 are due for delivery with two additional planes arriving by early next year. From April next year, the entire long haul network of RBI will only be served with the Dreamliner offering a superior in-flight product experience.

The airline is now looking for an equity partner according to an interview of Dermot Mannion to the Irish newspaper “The Independent”. The former Aer Lingus chief executive has been running Royal Brunei since 2010 launching a drastic turn-around financial plan. The airline has been downsized to become more competitive with staff being reduced from 2,000 to 1,500 while the network was restructured.

According to the newspaper, Mr Mannion explained he would explore opportunities next year to create a partnership with a larger carrier: "We will be looking at a joint venture opportunity and a cross-equity shareholding," he said. "We'll look at that in 2014. It will be the next phase of development." A Gulf carrier could be an obvious choice especially as Emirates and Etihad continue to be in a shopping spree mood.

Sourced: TravelDailyNews

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