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Just before our November 2005 visit to Brunei, we tried to read up on the internet about Bandar Seri Begawan's airport, because we would be spending a whole day there in transit. Could you buy duty free scotch in a "dry" country? Was there anywhere to sleep? Was there anything to do?
We discovered there was no useful guide to the place to be found on the internet anywhere - nothing - yet so many travelers spend long hours in this airport!. It's time to fill that gap so here it is - our guide to whats what at Bandar Seri Begawan International airport.
Bandar's airport is about a 20 minute drive from the city centre. You can get there by taxi from Bandar for around B$15, we found it cheaper to take our hotel minibus for B$7.50. There are also public buses until 6pm.
Traveling from the airport into Bandar the taxi fare will be around B$25, more if you arrive late at night.
As your plane lands you will see a small, modern airport surrounded by trees. Once off your plane you will find customs, immigration and baggage handling is relatively efficient and quick. It's not a busy airport. If you need a visa it's B$5 for a 72 hour transit visa or B$18 to stay longer. If you are staying in Brunei you will need to fill in a yellow form declaring how much alcohol you are carrying. Non-muslims can import 2 bottles.
The cavernous transit / departure lounge
The departure / transit lounge is where most people spend a lot of time. The lounge is spacious, air conditioned and has plenty of seating. The design of the lounge has islamic overtones with a domed ceiling and a spiraling staircase downstairs to the prayer room.
The facilities in the main lounge include a check in desk for passengers, modern (and clean) toilet facilities, a smoking room, several duty free shops and a number of souvenir / watch shops. Upstairs there is a private lounge for business / first class passengers.
There is a sit down restaurant area operated by Royal Brunei catering which serves mediocre malay dishes, pies, cakes and soft drinks. Prices were B$3 for soft drink or water, pastries around B$3-5 and hot meals around B$10.
A smaller food store next door to the smokers room is much cheaper and sells drinks for B$1 and has snacks and chocolates. They have a few tables and are very friendly.
There is also a small internet cafe which serves drinks and coffee for around B$3. There are no bars and no alcohol on sale in the airport. Lots of people in transit generally lounge about on the public seats, many of them women in full muslim headdress.
Gift stores and public seating
The duty free shops are competitive with other airports in the region for items like perfume and cigarettes. No duty free alcohol is for sale here. Be careful in these stores if paying in currency other than Brunei Dollars - they really rip you off with the exchange rate. The same applies to all the outlets at the airport so use Brunei Dollars or your credit card only.
Down the spiral staircase is a shower block, toilets, a parenting room and a prayer room for muslims. Here also there are "day rooms" - basic rooms you can rent short - term if you want to sleep awhile. We waited an hour for the person manning the desk to turn up - when he did arrive he headed straight for the sofa and switched on a Bollywood VCD.
Rooms are air conditioned and have a double bed and small table. The en suite bathrooms have toilet, shower and bath. There is no TV, fridge or room service. Use of the rooms is on an hourly basis, we paid B$60 for 7 hours use. The rooms are spartan for the price but good if you just need to sleep.
When you arrive at Bandar airport to depart the country you will find checking in relatively efficient albeit laid back. We noticed one check-in girl engrossed at her terminal playing a video game. Going through immigration the guy who stamped our passports was running a snooker game on his PC. Nice work if you can get it.
Whilst not a large airport compared to other Asian capitals, for a country of some 330,000 people it is quite an impressive facility. It has none of the crowds, heat and long queues common in other airports in the region and is relatively quiet and comfortable.
A Royal Brunei plane preparing for departure
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