Brunei passport is ranked among the top 20 in terms of travel freedom, according to the Henley Passport Index released on Wednesday.
Passport holders from the Sultanate are able to travel to 168 out of the 227 destinations studied in the survey without the need of a prior visa.
In Southeast Asia, the Brunei passport is ranked the third most powerful, after Singapore (194 destinations) and Malaysia (182 destinations).
Singapore also shares the top spot globally with France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Chairman of Henley and Partners Dr Christian Kaelin said that while the general trend over the history of the 19-year-old ranking has been leaning towards greater travel freedom, the global mobility gap between those at the top and those at the bottom of the index is now wider than ever.
“The average number of destinations travellers are able to access visa-free has nearly doubled, from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024.
“However… the top-ranked countries are now able to travel to a staggering 166 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan, which sits at the bottom of the ranking with access to just 28 countries without a visa,” he said. Meanwhile, Senior Vice President of Commercial Products and Services at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Frédéric Léger said the passenger traffic is set to double by 2040, thus a need to optimise and enhance airport processes.
“Checking and verifying travel documents more often than not needs to be performed manually. With the expected continued growth in air travel, this task needs to be automated to a much higher degree,” he said.
“Passengers have clearly communicated that they are willing to share their data in advance of travel to achieve this goal.” – Azlan Othman
