Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah gracing the welcoming ceremony for the arrival of the new C295MW aircraft for the Royal Brunei Air Force (RBAirF) at the Air Movement Centre, Rimba Air Force Base on Jan 24, 2024. - BB
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Hassanal Bolkiah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) graced a ceremony for the arrival of two of the four new C295MW aircraft for the Royal Brunei Air Force (RBAirF) at the Air Movement Centre, Rimba Air Force Base on Wednesday (Jan 24).
To start the ceremony, the 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 the Almighty for a safe six-day long range transit journey from the manufacturing factory in Seville, Spain beginning on Jan 18.
To bless the ceremony, a Doa Selamat was read by Director of RBAF Religious Directorate (JAMA’AT) Commander Ainolnizam Ibrahim, RBN.
The prince was then 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.
Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence (MinDef), Services Commanders, Acting Joint Force Commander RBAF, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the MinDef, senior officers of the RBAF and delegation from Airbus Defence and Space headed by Head of Region Asia-Pacific and China Zakir Hamid were also present at the ceremony.
The Air Transport project contract was signed by the MinDef, on behalf of the Government of His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Airbus Defence and Space on Dec 2, 2022 for the delivery of a fleet of four C295MW.
The arrival of the first two C295MW aircraft was the recent proceedings after the Customer Acceptance Test ceremony was signed at Airbus Defence and Space, Seville, Spain attended by the Minister at the PMO and Minister of Defence II, RBAF Commander and RBAirF Commander.
An introduction to the service ceremony will be held separately in the near future to officiate the C295MW aircraft into the service for the RBAirF.
The C295MW aircraft is capable of carrying out 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. - Borneo Bulletin/ANN
