Royal Brunei Airlines, the national airline of Brunei Darussalam was established on 18 November 1974 as an independent corporation wholly owned by the government of Brunei. The maiden flight took off from Bandar Seri Begawan to Singapore on 14th May, 1975 and since then, the airline has grown in leaps and bounds.
The airline connects Brunei to the world from its hub in Bandar Seri Begawan and thanks to a five-year business plan to update its fleet with new aircraft which now comprises a fleet of fourteen aircraft comprising of five Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft together with seven Airbus A320neo aircraft and two Airbus A320ceo.
In 2018, it received the APEX Official Airline Rating Four-Star Award and as winners of TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Economy Class – Asia and Travellers’ Choice Regional Airlines – Asia. In the recent Skytrax airline rating, the airline moved up fourteen places to be at number 78 (from 92) in the top 100 airlines in the world.
Happy anniversary Royal Brunei Airlines
Key Milestones over the years......
14 May 1975: The maiden Royal Brunei Airlines flight to Singapore left Bandar Seri Begawan on a Boeing 737-200QC.
Flight to Kota Kinabalu also began the same day, whilst Hong Kong flew the next day.
12 December 1981: RB added a third B737-200QC Combi to its fleet, expanding its network to Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta
June 1990: RB took delivery of the first of three B767-200ER aircraft.
21 November 1990: RB’s inaugural flight to London Gatwick
14 May 1991: RB flew twice weekly to London Heathrow
Employed the use of Fokker 50 to service Miri and Labuan, two destinations important to the growth of Brunei’s oil and gas industry.
August and September 2003: Took delivery of two new Airbus A319 aircraft.
December 2003 and January 2004: Two more Airbus A320s were delivered. RB operates a fleet of six Boeing B767-300s, two Airbus A320s and two Airbus A319s.
16 May 2004: RB flies daily to London via Dubai
June 2010: RB’s newly-leased 777-200ER took off on its first commercial flight from Bandar Seri Begawan to London via Dubai.
6 November 2012: RB becomes the first National flag carrier in Southeast Asia to appoint a female airline captain; Captain Sharifah Czarena Suriany Syed Hashim
May 2013: RB launches Double Daily flights to Kuala Lumpur
12 October 2013: Launching of a Betterfly; RB’s B787 Dreamliner. The first airline in Southeast Asia to operate the B787 Dreamliner
1 December 2013: First Dreamliner flight to Long Haul flight to Dubai and London
3 April 2014: Launch of RB’s first Dreamliner flight from Melbourne making RB the first airline in the world to offer a seamless Dreamliner long-haul flight from Melbourne to London via Brunei and Dubai.
5 May 2014: RB signed with Airbus for seven Airbus A320neo aircraft
19 February 2016: RB and Turkish Airlines sign codeshare agreement
17 March 2016: Mr Karam Chand was appointed to be the Chief Executive Officer for Royal Brunei Airlines
12 July 2016: RB signed codeshare with China Eastern Airlines
26 August 2016: Hong Kong Airlines signed codeshare agreements with RB
16 August 2017: RB signed codeshare agreements with Philippine Airlines
26 November 2017: Launch of scheduled services to Seoul, South Korea
2 January 2018: Launch of scheduled services to Nanning, China
25 May 2018: RB welcomes the airline’s 1st Delivery of A320neo registered as V8-RBA from Toulouse, France
22 September 2018: The official launch of the A320neo fleet
24 July 2019: RB received 4-Star Airline quality rating certification from SKYTRAX
6 January 2021: Captain Haji Khalidkhan Haji Asmakhan was appointed the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
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