Royal Brunei takes delivery of first Dreamliner

Royal Brunei Airlines is celebrating the delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner — not just the first for the flag carrier, but also for Southeast Asia.

The new aircraft departed Paine Field in Everett, Washington on Wednesday evening for a 6,540 nautical miles (12,112 km) non-stop flight to Brunei International Airport in the capital Bandar Seri Begawan.

Passengers travelling on Royal Brunei Airlines will get to experience all the features that the Dreamliner offers, including electronically dimmable windows and larger overhead luggage compartments.

During flight, cabin pressure of the B787 is kept at 6,000 feet instead of 8,000 feet on conventional aircraft. Cabin air is programmed at 15 per cent instead of four per cent, and an active gust alleviation system keeps the plane steady during turbulence.

The B787 is well known for being primarily made from composite materials, thereby allowing it to use 20 per cent less fuel and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the same percentage compared to similarly sized airplanes.

Royal Brunei Airlines will be implementing a two-class configuration on the new airplane, with 18 seats in business class, and 236 seats in economy. Business class seats will be positioned in a 2-2-2 layout, while economy will feature a nine across 3-3-3 seat plan.

The airline's new Dreamliner is scheduled to begin operations with an inaugural flight to Singapore on October 18, with long-haul service to London via Dubai set to start on December 1. Royal Brunei hopes to deliver on its promise of having all of its long-haul routes flown by the state-of-the-art jetliner by Q2 of 2014 when it introduces the B787 to its Melbourne service.

Flight schedule for B787 service between Bandar Seri Begawan & Singapore

Bandar Seri Begawan – Singapore

Singapore – Bandar Seri Begawan

The new Boeing aircraft will replace the carrier’s current B777-200ER fleet which is leased from Singapore Airlines (see here).

For more information, visit www.flyroyalbrunei.com

Clement Huang