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Royal Brunei to reinstate flights to Dubai from London

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Long term HfP readers will, I’m sure, remember this three paragraph story from July 2018 where we reported on Royal Brunei dropping its flight between London Heathrow and Dubai.

Royal Brunei had operated this route from 2004 under ‘fifth freedom’ rules. The aircraft stopped in Dubai before carrying on to Brunei and you could book each leg separately.

In 2018 the airline swapped to a direct Heathrow to Brunei flight, offering the first ever non-stop service between the two countries.

Royal Brunei retarts London Heathrow to Dubai flights

This clearly didn’t work as well as was hoped, because Royal Brunei is bringing back its Heathrow to Dubai service.

From 1st November, there will be an overnight service to Dubai (departs Heathrow 5pm, lands 4.15am) and an equally painful early morning flight back (leaves Dubai at 3am, lands at Heathrow at 7.20am).

The flight will operate three days per week on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.

This is clearly not going to become a hugely popular option. Royal Brunei is not part of any major airline alliance so there are no ‘earn and burn’ opportunities for frequent flyer miles. The flight times are not ideal.

I believe that Royal Brunei is a ‘dry’ airline, so no alcohol will be available, but you can bring your own! The business class seating on the Boeing 787-8 is not world class, with a 2-2-2 formation and no private solo seats.

The real benefit here is competition, assuming that the airline chooses to act as a price setter and not a price taker.

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Comments (30)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • The Original Nick says:
    25 Sep25 September 06:19

    Rob, how many Avios did you need for this flights in First? And how much in taxes etc?

  • Joan says:
    25 Sep25 September 06:33

    Slightly OT but we flew BA FIRST to Dubai on Friday – my first ever first class flight and although I enjoyed it, we didn’t think it was much different from business class apart from the lashings of Laurent Perrier! Interestingly we were going to buy some champagne to take to Dubai but LHR had absolutely no champagne at all in duty free ! So bought at DXB but with the exchange rate it was £97 for 2 so would have been cheaper in Sainsbury !
    Staying at Le Royal Meridien after reading Rhys review last year . Really enjoying it and we got an upgrade to a massive Club suite with a fabulous view , but I agree the outside pool areas don’t quite match the quality of the interior . By the time we pay our bill at the end of the week the hotel cost is going to be more than 20% higher than it was a month ago 🙈… or more £££££

    • Comrade says:
      25 Sep25 September 09:46

      We are building back better and levelling up. All part of the process!

      • Hbommie says:
        25 Sep25 September 10:58

        Levelling up Jeremy? But when will the pool match the interior quality?

        @Joan, did you try the restaurants in Grosvenor House? I like the dine around options and the Club Wing in the LRM was very nice, is the complimentary bottle of wine per day still a thing?

        • Joan says:
          25 Sep25 September 18:51

          Hbommie we went over to GH today and have booke to have dinner in the Rhodes restaurant there later this week . Yes we have been to the club lounge lots but I haven’t seen a free bottle of wine yet – although we did get one and a big cake in our upgraded suite just because I said it was our anniversary … not entirely true 😂

    • Ash says:
      25 Sep25 September 15:46

      Did you need a pcr leaving the uk? .gov seems to contradict itself way I read it.
      Thanks we are doing same route next week in first so don’t want to mess it up:-) and yes exchange rate looks scary

      • Blenz101 says:
        25 Sep25 September 18:19

        No PCR required if vaccinated.

        There is a big media briefing tomorrow at 5.30pm GST on covid in the UAE.

        Should hopefully mean the removal of masks indoors (if not all covid restrictions). Not that anybody is bothering to wear them indoors anyway.

  • @mkcol says:
    25 Sep25 September 06:56

    I remember flying Royal Brunei LHR-DXB-LHR in 1994, and getting stuck in DXB for a few days as I didn’t know I had to call them to reconfirm my inbound flight – remember having to do that with some airlines otherwise they’d just cancel your seat?!

    • Michael C says:
      25 Sep25 September 08:09

      Totally! “Please reconfirm 72 hours prior to departure or risk losing your seat”!
      My 90s flight was SIN-(BIA)-SYD with Aussie hordes who only found out on board that the only “drink” was 0% pink Pomagne-style fizz…
      They also only had one film, Patrick Swayze’s “Road House”, which just restarted each time it ended. Funny, the things that stick in your mind!!

      • Alex Sm says:
        25 Sep25 September 11:32

        Reading all these memories, I feel so happy and relieved that my first ever flight was in 2000 and my first long-haul not until 2006

  • Lux says:
    25 Sep25 September 07:13

    Both of these articles bring back memories.

    I flew London to Dubai on Royal Brunei more than a decade ago, and what stands out for me was the enormous business class bathrooms – perhaps half the size of an Emirates First shower suite – and that the taps and sink were gold plated, with a toilet that was truly a throne. I’ve got photos somewhere…

    Around the same time, I flew Cathay from Dubai to, I think, Doha as it had fifth freedom rights. Great flight, good memories of when I was a Concord Room Card holder.

  • SamG says:
    25 Sep25 September 07:45

    Ahh brings back memories- £300 quid return with a few minis from duty free

  • Charles Martel says:
    25 Sep25 September 08:23

    I flew BI to Melbourne in 2014, the plane was a almost brand new 787 but the state of the toilets in BWN put me off ever using them again, far more than the ability to earn airline points. I still have nightmares.

  • Joe Worthington says:
    25 Sep25 September 09:28

    I flew the BI Heathrow to Dubai route a few times in the late 2010s. Perfectly adequate for around £250 return, but nothing to write home about.

    The cabin crew were really young and always looked incredibly nervous all of the time. I think there was just 1 drinks service and then a meal service per flight. Most passengers seemed to be going straight through to Bandar Seri Begawan rather than just to Dubai.

    I remember one time, an Indian gentleman got very aggressive with a young female member of the cabin crew because he wanted a whisky and, being a dry airline, they obviously didn’t have any. It took the whole flight to get the guy to understand that there was no alcohol on board.

  • Geoff says:
    25 Sep25 September 09:31

    “….so my wife gets an hour of Cathay Pacific First Class for the second leg!” – and because of that, I think, the Al Safwa lounge in Doha during the connection if there is time? And probably 1st class TPs for that leg too.

    Certainly used to be the case in the days before Qatar’s restrictions.

    • Rob says:
      25 Sep25 September 11:09

      Connection too short for Al Safwa!

    • Andrew J says:
      25 Sep25 September 12:31

      In this scenario she would have access to Al Safwa as she is flying a long haul sector in First class into Doha. The old way of booking business class from U.K. to Dubai and as it ticked Doha to Dubai in First class you got access to Al Safwa has stopped on the Dubai route.

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