Brunei eyes more Chinese tourists with new chartered flights

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN — Brunei is hoping to attract more Chinese tourists into the country with the launch of the inaugural Yunnan Lucky Air chartered flights from Nanning, on July 15 and Kunming, on July 18, a local English daily said on Monday.

Yunnan Lucky Air, a low-cost Chinese carrier, previously operating at 14 international routes, is now expanding its network to Bandar Seri Begawan from Nanning and Kunming in China, which are currently not connected by other airlines, Borneo Bulletin reported.

According to Brunei's Tourism Development Department, the direct flight services will operate twice a week for both destinations, using the Boeing 737-800 and Airbus 320.

Most passengers are on packaged tours of four to eight days.

Based on statistics provided by the Tourism Development Department, tourism revenue generated by the China market in 2016 was estimated at 6.45 million Brunei dollars ($4.7 million) with an average stay of 2.8 days.

In 2016, Brunei received 40,383 Chinese tourists, which is an increase of 18.7 percent from 2015.