Students at the University of Warwick had a unique insight into the world of aviation on Wednesday 4 December 2019. Using their creativity and business nous, teams participated in a competition run by Royal Brunei Airlines.
The award-winning airline is aiming to grow the number of students it carries to key destinations in Southeast Asia including Kuala Lumpur, Vietnam, Singapore, Manila, Jakarta and Saigon. With daily flights departing London Heathrow, Royal Brunei Airlines connects to 30 destinations across Southeast Asia and Australia.
Students gathered in small groups on Wednesday 4 December after reading the brief to brainstorm and present their ideas of how the airline can encourage more students to fly with them. Judging the competition was a group of representatives from Royal Brunei Airlines.
“What better way to consider how we can attract more students than by hearing it directly from them,” said Adiel Mambara, the airline’s Country Manager UK and Ireland. “Working in partnership with the University of Warwick, we set a challenge to devise a strategic plan on how to attract more students from Southeast Asia to use Royal Brunei Airlines as their preferred airline. The ideas presented by the students were of an exceptionally high calibre.”
The winning team, comprised of Muhammad Azim Haziq Bin Radzali, Yasseer Bin Bakar Redin, and Mohammad Ridha Bin Mohd Rashdan, was praised for their professionalism and profound approach.
“Their approach blended humour, intellect and creativity, really helping it stand out,” continued Mambara. “But it also had a solid business strategy behind it, displaying an excellent understanding of the brief and how marketing works.”
Also highly commended for their entries were: Brian Darling and Laurent Ackermann from Team 180 Degrees Consulting; Saria Zulkarnain, Aiynah Hazni and Wilfred Ang from Team 9; and Sulayman Abdul Hadi, Fionne Lim, Muhammad Zulhaiqal Iqmal Bin Zulkifly, and Gan Fah Chong from Team Young Fleet.
“Being able to offer our students exposure to the business world is a great benefit for their long-term development,” says Sabrina Jalil, Warwick ASEAN Conference Co-Chief Coordinator at the University of Warwick. “Working with Royal Brunei Airlines on this project has given our students a deeper understanding of how businesses are structured, what their objectives can be, and how to generate and present ideas which make commercial sense in an office environment.”
