In a press release issued yesterday, RB said the codeshare, which began on July 1, 2016, will see the addition of ‘MU’ to RB operated flights from Bandar Seri Begawan to Shanghai and vice versa.

RB chief executive officer Karam Chand welcomed the partnership with China Eastern Airlines.

“China is a market of over 120 million outbound passenger departures worth in excess of US$100 billion per year. The partnership with China Eastern will allow RB to benefit from the huge network and marketing power of one of the largest airlines in the world,” he said.

RB said both airlines will work towards expanding this partnership to other parts of China.

Zeng Yongchao, executive deputy managing director for the marketing and sales committee of China Eastern Airlines, said there will be more passengers travelling between China and Brunei following the codeshare agreement.

The agreement was signed by Zeng and Aji Puteh, RB’s head of corporate services.

The codeshare with the Chinese airline is just one of RB’s several initiatives to tap into the growing Chinese travel market.

Last week, it expanded its flight network into the city of Zhengzhou in China’s Henan province.

RB operates a fleet of ten aircraft comprising of four Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners along with six Airbus A320 units. The company has another Dreamliner on order and has a contract with Airbus for up to ten A320neo aircraft, with deliveries starting in 2017.

RB flies to several destinations in Australia, Southeast Asia, China, Middle East and the United Kingdom.

China Eastern Airlines, based in Shanghai, is one of the three major airlines in China. It has a fleet of over 500 long and short-haul aircraft with an average age of less than seven years.

The company serves nearly 80 million travellers annually and ranks among the world’s top five airlines in terms of passenger transportation volume.