The inaugural Royal Brunei Airlines flight is given the water cannon salute to mark its arrival in Sibu.
SIBU: Royal Brunei Airlines (RB) celebrated the launch of its inaugural flight to Sibu at Sibu Airport today.
Flight BI6885 landed at the airport at 2.35pm today and was given the water cannon salute, as customary for new flights touching down at airports.
“We are very proud to be the first international airline to fly to Sibu in the Malaysian state of Sarawak.
“We are delighted to introduce Sibu as our next destination in Phase One of the RB Link regional initiative connecting cities and towns within Borneo Island.
“Sibu and its neighbouring towns will benefit from our value pricing and five star full service product as well as seamless connections through Brunei to many international markets such as China, Japan, UK and Australia which offer great tourism and export opportunities.
“It’s another important and exciting step in our goal to make travel easier within Borneo and beyond,” said RB senior vice president (Sales) Ng Ai-Ling.
Present at the celebration was Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture permanent secretary Hii Chang Kee, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) Route Development senior manager Zainuddin Mohamed and Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer Sharzede Salleh Askor.
The celebration was hosted by MAHB in partnership with STB attended by guests and media.
MAHB Group Chief Executive Officer Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin said, “We are pleased to welcome Royal Brunei Airlines to Sibu Airport, its fourth new destination in Malaysia after Sandakan, Bintulu and Tawau in recent weeks.”
He said that in the last nine months, Sibu Airport recorded a 12.7 per cent increase in passenger movement compared to the same period last year.
“We are confident that this new international route will benefit Sibu by boosting its tourism offerings to potential visitors.
“With the connectivity provided by Royal Brunei, Sibu can now look forward to be accessible to the world through another important hub, Bandar Seri Begawan,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sharzede said the flight from Bandar Seri Begawan not only serves as a link for the local business community to the outside world but also facilitate the growth of tourism into the Sibu and the central region.
“The connection augurs well for central region as the board is currently pursuing an aggressive promotion campaign which we have recently launched in Europe and we are expecting tourist movement early next year,” she said.