Royal Brunei Airlines introduced RB Link Flights in partnership with Malindo Air

Royal Brunei Airlines is delighted to introduce RB Link flights with services connecting Brunei and new cities in Borneo Island in partnership with Malindo Air of Malaysia.

The launch of RB Link was announced by Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II and Chairman of RB Board of Directors, at the Collaboration Hub, RB Campus in conjunction with the launching ceremony of Brunei-Brisbane services on 10th July 2019.

RB’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Karam Chand commented: “We are proud to launch RB Link flights, your gateway to Borneo and beyond. This is our latest innovation in improving the products and services across our network and expanding our “home market” to twenty one million potential customers. RB Link flights operated by our Partner – Malindo Air will initially connect five new and two existing cities across Borneo Island and link them to our global network of twenty five international destinations via our hub – Brunei International Airport. The markets in the target cities are currently under-served. When planning this game-changing initiative we took on board the needs of our guests for enhanced seamless connectivity and affordable services. By providing RB Link services, we are confident air travel will boom in the region, allowing the various cities and its stakeholders to reap the benefits of enhanced air connectivity.

RB Link product was first conceptualized when we developed the current five year business plan in 2016 that is to have an expanded route network that created value for Brunei Darussalam, RB, Brunei International Airport and our guests who are seeking seamless connections. Linking Borneo to our greatly enhanced route network is a significant development for air connectivity within the BIMP-EIGA region and one that will stimulate travel and trade between Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The regional aircraft and our Business Partner was carefully selected to ensure a good fit between the market sizes and seat capacity requirements. The short-haul flights are best conducted with advanced turbo-prop aircraft such as ATR-72 which has been designed bottom up to suit Regional markets. RB Link flights will also support our network development, the national objective of delivering half a million visitors to our shores by 2021 and additional revenue for the various stakeholders including Brunei International Airport.

The product has been tailored to suit short distance flying with guests served with sandwiches and drinks with the same RB signature services. RB and Malindo Air cabin crew will provide the cabin services and in not too distant future the flights will have Bruneian cabin crew. The aircraft, maintenance, insurance and crew (both pilots and cabin crew) will be provided by Malindo Air under this partnership. This arrangement commonly known in the Industry as ACMI Lease will be in place for two years during which time RB will explore the different options it has to further develop the Regional Link.

We are very pleased to share that RB has climbed twelve places to be at number 66th position on the world’s Top 100 airlines on the Skytrax ranking of global airlines. Our goal is to be a four star, Top 50 airline in the world and the Teams are working hard towards achieving these goals. The enhanced network and signature RB service will assist us in achieving the various corporate goals set for the National Airline” concluded Mr Chand.

RB Link flights will be supported with two brand new ATR 72-600 aircraft operated by Malindo Air and cabin crew trained to RB’s service standards and initially overseen by RB cabin crew. The aircraft in white livery is configured in all economy 72 seats layout. Guests onboard will enjoy RB’s signature service, food and drinks (applicable to flights over one hour), Muhibah in-flight magazine, and are able to use their personal electronic devices for entertainment. The baggage allowance for each guest is 15 kilograms whilst connecting guest’s baggage allowance will be determined by the fare they purchase. Guests may purchase tickets online via www.flyrb.com or contact their nearest RB customer service centre for any ticketing enquiries. The flights to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching are available for sale whilst other new RB Link destinations will be made available in August. The flights are subject to Government approvals and partnerships discussions with tourism, airport and other partners.