RB commences COVID-19 vaccination campaign, pilots among first to receive vaccine in Brunei
3 April 2021, 8:37 AM
Royal Brunei Airlines (RB) has commenced the vaccination of its frontliners against COVID-19, with two pilots – RB Chief Executive Officer, Captain Haji Khalidkhan bin Haji Asmakhan and Deputy Chief Pilot, Captain Yuri Leeka Hamidoon – becoming among the first to receive the vaccine in Brunei on 3rd April 2021.
RB is targeting to get all of its frontliners, which include pilots, cabin crew and ground services personnel, vaccinated within this few weeks, in line with the Brunei Darussalam Vaccination Strategy. The added protection to RB’s frontline staff will boost theirs and the public’s confidence in travelling with RB and represents a crucial step in increasing operations in an industry heavily impacted by the pandemic.
“Getting vaccinated is vital to keeping our frontliners and our guests safe. With it, we will be able to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and take a step forward to flying with greater peace of mind in the new normal,” said RB CEO Captain Haji Khalidkhan.
Martin Aerberli, Chief Commercial Officer said the vaccinations will help RB’s operations return to pre-pandemic levels earlier than forecasted. “We hope that travel restrictions will soon ease for travelers and lead to a recovery for demand for air travel, following the arrival of the vaccines in Brunei and the vaccination of our frontliners,” he said.
“Hopefully, RB will be able to rebound faster than the industry estimates and restore connectivity and air linkages for the country,” he added.
Captain Haji Khalidkhan and Captain Yuri were selected to be among the first people in Brunei to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in a special event to mark the start of the vaccination drive for the public held at the Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Hospital in the capital on Saturday. The country has authorised three vaccines – Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Sinopharm – under emergency use. The national vaccination strategy stipulates that the public will be vaccinated in three phases, with frontliners among the priority groups to be vaccinated in Phase 1.
RB was recently awarded a seven-star rating by airlineratings.com for its high level of precautionary measures against COVID-19 and the vaccination of RB frontliners and eventually, all its staff will further contribute to Brunei’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.