(AseanAll) — On 24 January 2024, Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah ibni, Brunei Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, graced a ceremony for the arrival of two of the four new C295MW aircrafts for the Royal Brunei Air Force (RBAirF) held at the Air Movement Centre, Rimba Air Force Base.
Upon arrival, the Crown Prince was greeted by Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Retired) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof, Minister at the Prime Minister's Office and Minister of Defence II; Yang Mulia Major General Dato Paduka Seri Haji Muhammad Haszaimi bin Bol Hassan, Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) and Brigadier General (U) Dato Seri Pahlawan Mohd Sharif bin Dato Paduka Haji Ibrahim, Commander of the Royal Brunei Air Force (RBAirF).
Also present at the ceremony were the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of Brunei , Services Commanders, Acting Joint Force Commander RBAF, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Senior Officers of the RBAF and delegation from Airbus Defence and Space headed by Zakir Hamid, Head of Region Asia-Pacific and China.
The Crown Prince proceeded to Bilik Merpati for a short briefing and video presentation from Airbus Defence and Space.
To start the ceremony, the Crown Prince was invited to witness the traditional ceremonial “Water Salute” in honouring the arrival of both aircraft as they entered the Military Apron. This was followed by a 'Sujud Syukur’ performed by the C295MW aircrew, as a gesture of gratitude to Allah Subhanahu Wata’ala for a safe six-day long range transit journey from the manufacturing factory in Seville, Spain beginning on 18 January 2024. To bless the ceremony, a Doa Selamat was read by Commander Haji Ainolnizam bin Haji Ibrahim, RBN, Director of RBAF Religious Directorate (JAMA’AT).
The Crown Prince then was introduced to the aircrew involved and invited for a familiarisation tour of the C295MW aircraft, followed by a photo session with the aircrew and group photo session. He was presented with a pesambah before proceeding into Bilik Merbuk for a Royal Luncheon. He was then invited to sign the Royal Parchment before departing the Rimba Air Force Base.
The Air Transport project contract was signed by the Ministry of Defence of Brunei, on behalf of the Government of the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, and Airbus Defence and Space on 02 December 2022 for the delivery of a fleet of four C295MW.
The arrival of the first two C295MW aircrafts was the recent proceedings after the Customer Acceptance Test Ceremony was signed at Airbus Defence and Space, Seville, Spain that was attended by Yang Berhormat Minister at the Prime Minister's Office and Minister of Defence II, Commander RBAF and Commander RBAirF. An Introduction to Service Ceremony will be held separately in the near future to officiate the C295MW aircrafts into the service for the RBairF.
The C295MW aircraft is capable of carrying our various strategic and tactical transport missions, both regionally and internationally including Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations, MEDEVAC (Medical Evacuations), NEO (Non-combatant Evacuation Operations) and SAR (Search and Rescue operations). The aircraft is also configurable to perform various roles such as Troop and Cargo Transport, VIP Transport, Freefall, Airborne Static Jumps, Cargo Drops and MEDEVAC.
