Royal Brunei Airlines to re-launch Shanghai flights; London only European destination as airline waits for 787s

Brunei is a small country located on the northern edge of Borneo, the world’s third largest island. It is split into two distinct areas and surrounded by Malaysia, while the southern part of Borneo belongs to Indonesia. For almost 100 years Brunei was a British protectorate before gaining its independence in 1984. The national airline, Royal Brunei Airlines, was established in 1974 and began flying in 1975 with two 737s.

For most of the last decade the airline has carried around one million passengers per annum to and from its home base. The airline’s current fleet consists of six 767-300s, two A319s and two A320s. An order for four 787s has been placed but the current delivery schedule for these aircraft is not clear.

London is only European destination currently served

Royal Brunei Airlines has placed an order for four 787s, but the current delivery schedule for these aircraft is not clear.

The airline currently serves 15 destinations non-stop from Brunei plus London Heathrow, which is served via Dubai. Services to Shanghai which were suspended in April 2008 resume at the end of this month with four weekly flights.

London Heathrow (served since 1991) is currently the only destination served in Europe though the airline also used to serve Frankfurt until September 2007. Other destinations that have been served non-stop are Darwin, Denpasar (Bali), Kolkata, Sharjah, Sydney and Taipei.

Source: OAG Max Online for w/c 1 March 2010

During the last year the number of weekly departures from Brunei has been increased from 91 to 99 with the additional flights to Jakarta, Jeddah, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore and Surabaya. London is served daily via Dubai while Auckland, apart from being served non-stop, is also served three-times weekly via Brisbane.

There has been speculation that Sydney may also return to the network in 2010 and may be joined by Melbourne. Seoul and Tokyo are other destinations that the airline is believed to be considering in the near future. Additional services to Europe may have to wait until the 787s are delivered to the airline.