Royal Brunei Airlines looking at restarting a Darwin international service

DARWIN may be back on the radar as a destination for Royal Brunei Airlines

Former NT Chief Minister Paul Henderson, front, pictured with a Royal Brunei jet

DARWIN may be back on the radar as a destination for Royal Brunei Airlines.

Darwin International Airport has confirmed it is in talks with the airline.

Royal Brunei Airlines chief executive Karam Chand has also confirmed the restart of a Darwin international service is being considered.

Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Perth are also being looked at as potential markets.

A spokesman for Darwin International Airport said the talks with Royal Brunei Airlines was still very early days.

“Yes we are definitely engaged in talks with the airline, but there isn’t a lot to report about it at this stage,” the spokesman said.

“It is early days, but clearly we would welcome the airline’s return to Darwin and the Territory.”

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Royal Brunei Airlines first began services to Darwin in 1983, but suspended the services on Australia Day 2008, after serving the route for 24 years.

Sydney was dropped by the airline in 2008 as well.

Sydney is not in the mix because Royal Brunei’s narrowbody fleet do not have the range to operate from Sydney to Bandar Seri Begawan year-round.

This has left the airline with no other alternative but to look at other destinations in Australia that are within range of its A320neo on a year-round basis without the possibility of any payload limitations.

With Darwin passenger loads likely to be small, linking the service to a larger destination would be possible.

From June 1994 Royal Brunei’s Brisbane service was initially routed via Darwin, but later upgraded to a non-stop flight.

Melbourne has been Royal Brunei’s only Australian destination since 2011 after Brisbane and Perth services were suspended.

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Both of those cities are believed to be in the mix for the Darwin service as are Royal Brunei’s North Asia ports.

Darwin would also be a good fit for the Gold Coast.

The Darwin-Gold Coast link was originally mooted for Donghai services.

However Donghai is still struggling to get good numbers on its Darwin direct service.

Royal Brunei (RB) Airlines is the national flag carrier airline of Brunei Darussalam, and is wholly owned by the government.

Its hub is Brunei International Airport in Berakas, just to the north of the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan.

Royal Brunei demand is growing at its fastest rate since 2015 with passenger numbers up 5.7 per cent year-on-year during the first seven months of 2018.