Sultan of Brunei flies himself to Washington, meets Obama

[zeqa 1]

 

http://news.yahoo.com/sultan-brunei-flies-himself-washington-meets-obama-173803801.html

 

 

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Not everybody can say they met with the president of the United States. And hardly anybody can say they piloted their own 747 airliner halfway around the world to get to the meeting.

So it was noteworthy that the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah, known for his vast oil wealth, sat down for talks with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

"His Majesty himself has led his country for 40 years now and he's gone through nine U.S. presidents. I won't ask him which one was his favorite," quipped Obama.

In a picture-taking session after their talks and before a White House lunch, Obama said he looked forward to attending an Association of South East Asian nations summit in October and expected issues like trade, energy and climate change to come up

Brunei is a tiny Southeast Asian country nestled on the north coast of Borneo in the South China Sea. China's sovereignty claim over a large area of the South China Sea has set it against Vietnam and the Philippines as the three countries race to tap possibly huge oil reserves. Malaysia and Brunei, also members of ASEAN, as well as Taiwan also claim parts of the sea.

"Obviously there have been a lot of tensions in the region around maritime issues and His Majesty has shown great leadership in trying to bring the countries together to make sure everybody is abiding by the basic precepts of rule of law and international standards so that conflicts can be resolved peacefully and respectfully," Obama said.

Reading from a statement, the sultan, 66, said he looked forward to welcoming Obama to the Brunei summit.

"He got here yesterday and flew in his own 747, meaning he actually piloted it himself," said Obama. "I think he's probably the only head of state who flies a 747 himself. So in case Air Force One pilots have problems, we know who to consult."

(Reporting By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton. Editing by Fred Barbash)

 

Edited March 13, 2013 by zeqa

[BC Tam 2]

So, we can expect AF1 to be in vicinity of BWN sometime in October ?

And the spillover traffic to 'neighbouring airports' (ahem, ahem) ?

[Alif A. F. 0]

Certainly ASEAN now is more significant than ever before, but still APEC has more member countries which equals to more aircrafts.

[Mushrif A 3]

Sorry but that is just pure PR crap...and poor Obama was fed with crap to regurgitate. (what else is there to say).

 

The Sultan travelled to Andrews on the A342.

 

And after a few days, he left wearing the standard-issue Air Force One jacket but with his initials on it.

 

And I think even if he is a fan of customised 747s, it is not proper for a head of state and head of government to be wearing a prominent-placed emblem of another country (the seal of the US depicting the bald eagle) whilst departing after a state visit. Did Brunei just become the 51st state?

[zeqa 1]

Sorry but that is just pure PR crap...and poor Obama was fed with crap to regurgitate. (what else is there to say).

 

The Sultan travelled to Andrews on the A342.

 

And after a few days, he left wearing the standard-issue Air Force One jacket but with his initials on it.

 

And I think even if he is a fan of customised 747s, it is not proper for a head of state and head of government to be wearing a prominent-placed emblem of another country (the seal of the US depicting the bald eagle) whilst departing after a state visit. Did Brunei just become the 51st state?

 

Oh ? I the local news website didnt show the aircraft. So I assume the article is correct. LOL....

 

 

 

BC Tam

With better cameras & more enthusiast than in 1999 (Apec) I can see a nice pics of AF1 at KKIA

[S V Choong 4]

I believe his Royal Highness has flown in his A342 before as well? He has done a bit of touch and goes at BKI, SDK and TWU with his A342

[MIR 2]

I believe his Royal Highness has flown in his A342 before as well? He has done a bit of touch and goes at BKI, SDK and TWU with his A342

 

Photo 1

Photo 2

Edited March 14, 2013 by MIR

[Lock SH 0]

Saw the jet (A342) parked at JFK this afternoon. Sorry no pic as I was on the bus heading downtown..........

 

 

[Kris Kim 0]

I was just wondering, will the Sultan's A342 get the new BI livery too? Its wearing the current BI livery, so it might be a possibility?

[zeqa 1]

I don't think so. I think the royal flight will use the current BI livery.

[JuliusWong 0]

His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei has multiple licenses in flying commercial aircraft.

 

He flies his own B747-400 V8-ALI, A340-213 V8-BKH, B767-26GER V8-MHB [although this aircraft is used by his brother most of the time] and his own Sikorsky helicopters. He flies BI A319 once before as well. All flights are pilot seats.

 

He used to fly G-V as well, but I think he has sold his fleet of five G-Vs.

[T Azahan 1]

His Majesty the Sultan received from Obama an Air Force One Inflight Jacket with his initials 'HB'.

 

Yes, he flew there on his A342 and not 744.

[Mushrif A 3]

His Majesty the Sultan received from Obama an Air Force One Inflight Jacket with his initials 'HB'.

 

Yes, that's what I said in post #4.

 

He is either ignorant or his advisors are asleep...the jacket has a large very prominent official seal of the US.....a head of state wears this at the end of an official visit?

[KK Lee 5]

Yes, that's what I said in post #4.

 

He is either ignorant or his advisors are asleep...the jacket has a large very prominent official seal of the US.....a head of state wears this at the end of an official visit?

 

Believe both U.S and Brunei protocol have vetted this to reflect the friendship between the two countries.