Royal Brunei Airlines

Pre-independence

Royal Brunei Airlines was established (as merely Royal Brunei) on 18 November 1974 with two, then new Boeing 737-200s. The airline's maiden voyage was on 14 May 1975 from the then newly built Brunei International Airport to Singapore. Flights to the then British colony of Hong Kong, and the city of Kota Kinabalu and Kuching in East Malaysia (Malaysian Borneo) started the same day.

Early route expansion included services to Manila in 1976, and Bangkok in 1977. Three years later, Royal Brunei acquired a Boeing 737-200QC, its third Boeing 737, enabling it to reach Kuala Lumpur in 1981 and Darwin in 1983.

From national independence: 1984–1991

After the independence of Brunei from the United Kingdom on 1 January 1984, services commenced to Jakarta on 3 January, thus linking all five ASEAN capital cities at the time from Brunei: Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, and Singapore.

Three Boeing 757-200s were purchased in the mid-1980s, to enable the airline to expand to Taipei in 1986 and Dubai in 1988. They were also used on existing high-capacity routes to Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur; after the introduction of the 757, its smaller sibling was phased out. In June 1990, Royal Brunei Airlines achieved a historic milestone with a non-stop long-distance flight from Seattle to Mombasa/Nairobi, using Brunei's first twin-engined commercial jet. The 18-hour flight covered 14,856.19 kilometres (7,842 nautical miles) and consumed 74.2 tons of fuel. This achievement, led by local pilot Captain Khalidkhan bin Haji Asmakhan, was a test of the airline's new aircraft for long-haul suitability. Recognised in The Guinness Book of Records in 1992, the accomplishment brought international recognition to Brunei.

Rapid expansion: 1992–1997

With the airline's rapid expansion, the 737s were sold, replaced by the Boeing 767. Before that, 757-200s served the airline between Brunei, the Middle East, and Gatwick.

The delivery of the first Boeing 767 (after a leased 767-200 registered CC-CEX) broke a world record when it flew 17 hours and 22 minutes non-stop from Boeing's factory in Seattle to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, on its way to Brunei. Seven more 767s were delivered, taking the fleet to eight Boeing 767s and two Boeing 757s (one of the 757s was sold to fund the purchase of the new 767s).

In March 1993, Abu Dhabi was added to the route network, through which flights to Frankfurt and Jeddah, were re-routed instead of Dubai. Bali was the second Indonesian city to be added to the network in May of the year. Flights to the third European destination, Zürich, commenced in August 1993 via Kuala Lumpur and another new destination, Bahrain. Before the end of the year, the airline was inaugurating services to Beijing (October) and Cairo (November), via Kuala Lumpur and Bahrain, respectively. Royal Brunei Airlines sold its last Boeing 737 to Aloha Airlines.

The growth of the network continued in 1994. The delivery of two Fokker 50s was used to start services to Miri and Labuan in east Malaysia of the same year. Flights to Brisbane and Osaka were also commenced in June and December, respectively; (the Brisbane service was initially routed via Darwin but later upgraded to a non-stop flight). The desire to link all the major oil and gas cities on Borneo saw the addition of Balikpapan to the route network in December.

Also in 1994, services began to Kolkata via Singapore and then on towards Dubai. Two Dornier 228s were purchased in the same year, and leased to the Malaysian regional carrier, Hornbill Skyways, to connect Brunei by air to Mulu Airport. Services to Cairo and Kolkata (via Singapore) were suspended in mid-1995 due to low passenger numbers.

The F-50s were replaced by the larger and more comfortable Fokker 100 (used, from previous owner Swissair) in 1996, which fuelled expansion to Bintulu. The route to Zürich was suspended in September 1996, to enable Royal Brunei to commence daily services to London Heathrow. Some London flights were routed through Yangon and Abu Dhabi, instead of via Singapore and Dubai; however, Yangon proved uneconomical and was discontinued the following year.

Consolidation: 1997–2002

On 6 September 1997, Royal Brunei Airlines Flight 839, a Dornier 228 owned by Royal Brunei Airlines, but operated and maintained by Malaysian regional carrier Hornbill Airways, carrying 10 passengers to Miri, crashed into high ground near Miri airport. All eight passengers and two crew died. The remaining Dornier 228s were sold in 1997, and short-haul services connecting Brunei to Miri, Labuan, Mulu, and Bintulu were terminated.

Later that year, Surabaya was the fourth Indonesian destination to be added. Unprofitable routes to Beijing and Osaka were suspended in 1998, and the F-100s were also sold to Alpi Eagles Airlines in 1998. Kuwait was added to the network in 2000, and was served via Singapore, Kolkata, and Dubai. It was suspended a year later. Services also began to Shanghai Pudong International Airport in 2001.