BIMP-EAGA’s travel sector has rebounded strongly since the pandemic, with tourist arrivals, both domestic and international, posting strong annual growth. Photo credit: iStock/Cn0ra
With BIMP-EAGA tourism seeing strong growth in the last few years, players in Brunei Darussalam’s transport sector are angling for opportunities in the subregion.
Flag carrier Royal Brunei Airlines is looking to offer more flights to BIMP-EAGA destinations, according to a report from an aviation-focused website. GallopAir Sdn Bhd., an aviation company incorporated in the sultanate last year, had said it was eyeing both BIMP-EAGA and Southeast Asia and was planning a launch by yearend. Brunergy Utama, another Bruneian company, has announced plans to start a railway service on the island of Borneo that would connect the sultanate with Indonesia and Malaysia.
Growth opportunities
BIMP-EAGA’s travel sector has rebounded strongly since the pandemic, with tourist arrivals, both domestic and international, posting strong annual growth. In 2023, tourist arrivals rose to 126.4 million from 114.8 million in 2022.
An Asian Development Bank (ADB) study released last year said there was opportunity to improve BIMP-EAGA connectivity.
According to the study, potential new routes could be a service between Kota Kinabalu and Zamboanga in the Philippines, which was initially planned to launch in March 2020. The route was postponed due to the pandemic but is being considered again.
Other promising routes include intra-Borneo destinations connecting Brunei with east Malaysia and Indonesia, including Balikpapan, Bintulu, Sandakan, Sibu, and Tawau. Services in these destinations were launched in 2019 but were suspended since the start of the pandemic. The report said air links to these destinations could be resumed.
The ADB study also saw growth opportunities in the wider Southeast Asian market, particularly in improving the connectivity of secondary destinations, which are underserved or not served at all.
Offering nonstop services on these routes could boost intra-Southeast Asian passenger traffic and tourism. Potential routes include Cebu−Kota Kinabalu, Makassar−Kota Kinabalu, Chiang Mai−Nha Trang, Da Nang−Penang, Hat Yai−Medan, and Johor Bahru−Bandung.
The study also urged Southeast Asian airlines to increase their focus on air cargo and invest in freighters to facilitate rapid air cargo growth in the region and improve their share of the region’s booming air cargo market.
Tapping growth areas
Royal Brunei Airlines is among airlines wanting to take advantage of growth opportunities in both BIMP-EAGA and the wider Southeast Asia market.
The airline just announced it would start flying to Balikpapan in Indonesia twice a week starting February 2025 as part of its network expansion. This came after it announced earlier this year the order of four Boeing Dreamliner 787-9 aircraft as part of plans to tap new growth areas.
In June, the flag carrier announced travel packages targeting Bruneians wanting to visit Malaysia. The travel offerings were launched in collaboration with Tourism Malaysia.
Malaysia expects to welcome 1.345 million tourists from Brunei this year, topping the 811,833 arrivals recorded in 2022.
“Malaysia has always been one of the top go-to destinations for Bruneians as it is the closest neighboring country to Brunei,” said Royal Brunei Airlines Chief Executive Officer Sabirin Hj Abd Hamid in a news release.
Newly incorporated GallopAir also wants to cash in on the strong growth of the subregion’s travel sector. Although the company has yet to formally launch, it had already signed a deal to buy 30 airplanes from Chinese aircraft maker Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd. (COMAC). The deal is worth $2 billion.
Although GallopAir has obtained phase 1 approval to advance its Aircraft Operation Certification (AOC) application, it has not obtained its AOC yet, which is a crucial milestone to operate as a fully functional airline.
Once Brunei’s aviation regulators clear GallopAir to operate, it would be the second locally based airline operator after Royal Brunei Airlines.
“We're on a mission to make Brunei a pivotal aviation hub for regional passenger consolidation. With our fleet of COMAC aircraft, we're set to enhance regional connectivity, offering direct flights connecting Brunei to cities in Southeast Asia, North Asia, and the Southwest Pacific regions,” the company said in its Facebook post. “We believe in a shared commitment to advancing economic vitality in the region and fostering people-to-people exchanges and tourism.”
Connecting Borneo
If it pushes through, Brunergy Utama’s plan for the high-speed railway on Borneo is also expected to improve connectivity in BIMP-EAGA.
According to Nikkei Asia, the Trans-Borneo Railways, which is expected to cost $70 billion, will stretch 1,620 kilometers.
The first phase will connect Pontianak with Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, and the Brunei district of Tutong, while the second phase will connect Tutong with provinces in North and Kalimantan, as well as Nusantara, Indonesia’s new capital.
Nusantara’s location puts the administrative center of Southeast Asia’s largest economy right in the middle of BIMP-EAGA where it could help drive the subregion’s development and growth.