Brunei startup Gallop Air is looking forward to operational integration with Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) as it awaits attaining its air operator certificate (AOC) as well as type certification for the Comac ARJ21 and C919 from the Bruneian Department of Civil Aviation.
Gallop Air CEO Cham Chi told Aviation Daily in an exclusive interview that the Bruneian authorities have been very welcoming of the airline’s vision to set up base in the kingdom.
He said Gallop could commence operation as early as 2024 by first chartering Royal Brunei Airlines Airbus A320neos and serving “familiar” markets such as Xian and Ningxia in China.
Chi said due to relatively steep fares by RBA, locals are driving across the border to the nearby city of Miri in Malaysia, which has raised the attention of Bruneian authorities, and hopes Gallop’s low-cost model can solve this problem.
The target market for Gallop is the so-called BIMP-EAGA (Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area) region, covering the underdeveloped region east of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), such as Borneo island, Indonesian Kalimantan, and south Philippines, with Brunei at the center of it all. In total, it has as a capture area of around 80 million potential passengers.
The goal is for Gallop and RBA to operate in a complementary manner, with Gallop connecting its passengers to RBA for long-haul routes such as Dubai and London.
Gallop is now in the first of five stages of the AOC application, and the major hurdle is the type certification of the ARJ21 and C919. Gallop has signed a $2 billion deal for 15 of each aircraft.
A medical evacuation variant of the ARJ 21 is in the books to support the local ministry of health, which provides free medical assistance to citizens.
Chi said sourcing of ARJ21 rating flight crews will be another challenge, but it is working closely with Comac Express, an entity under Comac dedicated to the generation of foreign-rated ARJ21 pilots.
Gallop has been eyeing setting up a cargo airline based in Singapore in 2022, but shelved the plan after the rapidly declining cargo rates, and the airline picked Brunei instead for the untapped passenger market and favorable conditions.
Gallop Air still retains a holding company, Gallop Air Pte Ltd in Singapore, 100% owned by Chinese Yang Qiang. While Yang is the chairman and founder of Shaanxi Tianju Investment Group, the company has no direct connections with the airline. Gallop Air Pte Ltd in turn holds 95% of Gallop Air Sdn Bhd in Brunei, with the remaining 5% held by another investor.
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