Royal Brunei Airlines' new non-stop route to Heathrow marks a "milestone", according to its cheif executive Karam Chand.
Chand spoke at an official launch ceremony at London's Gherkin yesterday, alongside Paul Scully MP, the prime minster's trade envoy for Burma, Brunei and Thailand.
"There are many strong cultural and political ties that exist between the two countries," Chand said, adding the route had been made possible following an upgrade of the airport's passenger terminal and runway, which now allows the airline to take off with a full passenger load.
Post Brexit, the flight could offer a valuable new hub to help British businesses in the wider ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region.
'Rock solid' links
As well as tourism within the country, and across the island of Borneo, Brunei has a thriving oil and gas industry, and business travel accounts for roughly a third of the airline's traffic to the UK. However, the new non-stop link could help British businesses step up investment in the wider region following Brexit.
"I'm looking to see how we can further diversify the economy of Brunei, and help British investment go there. And that's where non-stop flights really do come into their own. The hub... will benefit businesses looking to invest in the ASEAN region as a whole," Scully said.
"We've got great links with City, and as many people know we have been working on our Islamic finance offering over here, to be one of the leaders in the world, and Brunei is looking to play a similar role over in that part of the world. So there are all these links we will be able to build upon."
Islamic finance, according to investopedia.com, refers to the means by which corporations in the Muslim world, including banks and other lending institutions, raise capital in accordance with Sharia, or Islamic law. It also refers to the types of investments that are permissible under this form of law.
"This has come at a great time for the UK and Brunei. As we are looking around the world, with our Great Britain promotion, we have some fantastic partners, none of which have been so close, so warm, as Brunei. Our business links, our education links, our community links, are rock solid. The fact Royal Brunei has been flying to the UK for 28 years is testament to that," he added.
A Boeing 787 Dreamliner currently flies the route, with a flight time of 14 hours, reducing the previous time by 3.5 hours. There has also been "significant investment" made in its business class offering, Chand added, with 1,000 hours of entertainment added, and a new turn-down service soon to be rolled out, plus enhanced noise-cancelling earphones.
On days 1,3,6 and 7, the flight departs Heathrow at 1800 and arrives in Brunei 1535 the next day. On days 2,4 and 5, the flilght departs Heathrow at 2010 and arrives in Brunei at 1745 the next day.
A route to Tapei also launches 3 December 2018.