Royal Brunei Airlines (RB) has announced it will launch daily non-stop flights between Brunei and Heathrow from 28 October.
Although the new flights mean the airline will cease the Dubai-London service, Royal Brunei says it will continue to offer connections via its four times weekly Brunei-Dubai route from 29 October.
The carrier says the new direct service will see journey times between London and Brunei cut by 3.5 hours and onward connections to Melbourne reduced by 5.3 hours.
The flights will be operated by a B787 Dreamliner with business and economy-class seats. The service will depart Brunei at 0015 and arrive at 0650 local time, with return flights leaving London at 1705 and landing at 1440 the following day.
Karam Chand, CEO of Royal Brunei Airlines, said: “The introduction of RB’s non-stop flight to London Heathrow will be a significant milestone, as for the first time Brunei and England will be seamlessly connected by a direct air link.
“The through flight via Dubai has served us well, however with the demand for more direct routing from our guests, it becomes an important commercial imperative to provide that.”
Adiel Mambara, country manager UK & Ireland at Royal Brunei Airlines, added: “Brunei is an exciting destination with a wealth of undiscovered treasures which will appeal to inquisitive UK travellers. Our non-stop flights will be an enabler for increasing tourism to Brunei from the UK and Europe. In 2017, Brunei had a record number of visitors and we would like to double tourism to the region by 2021.
“With our one-stop flight to Melbourne, we will also become a major player in the UK-Australia market. We offer our customers award-winning service and hospitality and excellent value for money – an attractive offering for those looking to travel to Australia at the end of this year. Our routes from London, additional regional flights within Asia and new markets to be announced will all play a pivotal role in achieving our aims. Royal Brunei now offers a very compelling case for UK residents to seamlessly travel to Brunei and, whilst there, enjoy the many attractions of Brunei and the island of Borneo.”
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