By Shareen Han
Bandar Seri Begawan - Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) and, Singapore Airlines (SIA) have agreed to end their four-year code share agreement on flights between Brunei and Singapore from next month onwards, a RBA press statement stated yesterday.
All passengers with earlier bookings to Singapore will travel on RBA flights B1421 or B1423, after the termination date of the agreement, while passengers from Singapore will be flying on SIA flights.
"To serve the travelling public better, RBA now operates two flights daily to Singapore," the statement added.
A spokesperson from RBA said that the national carrier did not offer a variety of flights when the code share agreement was originally signed.
New departure times from Brunei will be at 8am and 6pm, to cater for the needs of holiday makers and day trippers to and from Singapore.
Currently, RBA operates 28 flights a week between Brunei and Singapore, including 14 flights from Brunei and 14 from Singapore on a weekly basis.
Under the code sharing agreement, both RBA and Singapore Airlines were able to sell seats on the Brunei/Singapore/Brunei sectors to passengers on each other's services, thereby providing passengers with different options when making flight arrangements, the spokesperson added.
"Due to commercial reasons, both SIA and RBA have mutually decided to end the code share agreement," according to an 'email from SIA Vice President of Public Affairs Stephen Forshaw to The Brunei Times.
He said that both airlines would maintain their frequency on the Singapore-Bandar Seri Begawan route and will market their services independently.
RBA has also advised passengers to contact their local RBA office for more inquiries on the change.
RBA and SIA started offering code sharing flights in 2003.
Flag carriers Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines are also reviewing the framework of their long-standing agreement on services between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, due to the entry of new competitors in the market, a recent Reuters report stated. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times
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