Royal Brunei Airlines first Boeing 777 enters service

Royal Brunei Airlines 777-212/ER (28524/350) V8-BLC (ex Singapore Airlines - 9V-SVA)arrives at London-Heathrow (LHR/EGLL) from Brunei International (Bandar Seri Begawan) Airport (BWN/WBSB) on its inaugural flight June 17.

(Photo by James Mepsted)

Royal Brunei Airlines commenced service with its first Boeing 777 to London via Dubai on Thursday, the national carrier yesterday said in a press release.

"RBA's B777 aircraft will greatly enhance our passengers' travel experience. The acquisition of the B777 aircraft is integral to RBA's development as the 777s will eventually replace the current six Boeing 767-300ER aircraft for long-haul flights from Bandar Seri Begawan to the United Kingdom, Middle East, Australia and New Zealand," Robert Yang, chief executive officer of RBA, said in the release.

The first aircraft was delivered on June 1 and has since then been used for pilot and cabin crew training, the airline said.

The remaining aircraft will be delivered by September, RBA said.

A check yesterday at the RBA booking website showed a return fare to London from Bandar Seri Begawan between August 1 and 15 would cost from $1,832.

Yang earlier said pricing for the route took into account an expected increase in travel in the coming year, and that airline prices follow the "supply and demand" economics of the industry.

He said that the next destination that will use the Boeing 777 jet is the airline's Australia route.

Captain Khalidkhan Hj Asmakhan, RBA's acting chief operations officer, earlier said the national airline is planning on expanding its flight personnel. "At the moment, we have some pilots specifically for the Boeing 777, but in the long run we might have to recruit more pilots, maybe some from in-house, some from overseas, because of the route structure of the planes," he said.

One of the features of the jet that the airline highlighted in its press release was the Economy Class cabin, which has 255 seats with a 33-inch seat pitch.

Other features include a new drinks menu, which includes lemongrass and pandan drinks, as well as mango and ginger chocolates served after dinner for the Business Class passengers.

With 30 seats in the Business Class section, the seats now can be inclined into a full-length bed, which comes with a duvet and a larger pillow, according to the press statement.

In terms of entertainment, all seats will be equipped with personal screens, which feature the airline entertainment system, called the SkyShow, which will offer passengers over 600 hours of entertainment options throughout their flight, including movies, television programmes, audio on-demand and a selection of video games.

(Debbie Too - The Brunei Times)