On the 19th Oct 2013, a Royal Brunei Boeing 787 Dreamliner operating flight BI 871 touched down at 11:15am and officially became the first Dreamliner to land in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
Alhamdulillah, I was fortunate to have the chance to witness the beautiful sight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner taxing in for the first time at KLIA towards gate C2 for its welcoming ceremony.
Thanks to information available on the net over the last few weeks, I got to know about BI871 and 872, the first Royal Brunei Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights to and from Kuala Lumpur. With no hesitation, bookings for two people were made. My wife and I were quite lucky to be able to get quite a good fare – RM480 return per person.
The plan is to:
a) welcome the arrival of BI871 as the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner to KLIA
b) fly on the same aircraft BI872 to Bandar Seri Begawan – the first 787 to take-off from KL
c) spend one night to do some sightseeing in Bandar Seri Begawan (first time in Brunei!)
d) fly back to KL on Airbus A319, another plane type that I’ve never experienced before
I was at KLIA as early as 3 hours before the flight – too excited for the occasion.
#betterfly collaterals spotted at the departure area. Representatives from Royal Brunei can be seen making the arrangements for the local media covering the welcoming ceremony.
In ensuring that I would get a window seat for the historical flight, I utilised the online check-in facility a day before the flight. All I had to do in KLIA was to perform a quick bag drop procedure at counter J7…
…and to obtain the actual boarding pass which will go into my special flights album at home.
Hope that the RB’s Boeing 787 aircraft model will join the rest of the family members at the KLIA Plane Model Display Area.
Staff preparing for the welcoming reception at Gate C2.
Mr Keat Siong, an aviation enthusiast, was seen tracking the BI871’s flight status on his smart phone. On-scheduled!
No only he came prepared with the tracker apps, he is also equipped with professional camera + few other DIY gears.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, KLIA welcomes the arrival of Royal Brunei B787 Dreamliner”. Announcement was made on the PA system the moment the beautiful Dreamliner can be seen from Gate C2.
The right turn to the gate.
The grand welcome – water cannon salute by the two AFRS trucks.
A #betterfly, the celebrity for the day, non-stop shutter clicks from the media and guests!
Safely at the gate.
A reverse view of the spotters spotting from Anjung Tinjau.
Arriving VIPs and Passengers were welcomed with a cultural performance by Tourism Malaysia.
Welcoming remarks by Dato’ Azmi Murad, Senior General Manager, Operations Services, Malaysia Airports.
Deputy Chairman of Royal Brunei Airlines, Mr. Dermot Mannion shared with the media and guests some interesting features of the Dreamliner.
Cake cutting ceremony, a must for any special flight in KLIA.
Shortly after the mini reception, the boarding process for flight BI872 started and I joined about 150 other passengers for the 110 minutes Dreamliner flight to Bandar Sri Begawan. Click here to read next blog post where I share my personal experience flying on-board Royal Brunei’s B787 Dreamliner, the #betterfly.
For more of my aviation stories, click here.
At the sametime, please click “like” or “share” if you love this post and would like to share it with your friends. Thank you.