Royal Brunei Airlines-known as RBA in the South East Asian region-has grown considerably since its formation back in 1974, when it commenced operations with two Boeing 737-200 aircraft. Today from its hub in Bandar Seri Begawan, (BSB)Brunei’s flag carrier flies to regional destinations such as Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Singapore, Bangkok, Balikpapan, Jakarta, Bali, Ho Chi Minh City, and Manila while among international destinations served by RBA are Dubai, London, Frankfurt, Zurich, Perth, Brisbane and Calcutta.
Its home airport at Bandar Seri Begawan is modern enough and has a few facilities including a prayer room, an over priced restaurant, several duty free shops, telephone and telex services, and a viewing gallery. It is not the most exciting spot on earth to have to while away a couple of hours in.I have had to use this airport numerous times whilst working for a time in Brunei and getting flights to Singapore, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur. Most of my flights on RBA have been to and from BSB and regional destinations and another very popular sector is BSB- Dubai-London.
It is well known in the travel trade that price wise the Brunei airline is competitive and considerably cheaper than regional rivals such as Malaysia Airlines and Cathay Pacific, although Singapore Airlines in recent years has also emerged as cheaper than some of the other carriers operating in the SE Asian region. One big snag I encountered on on one of my flights to Singapore out of Brunei was being held up for almost 20 minutes because a business jet of the Brunei Royal Flight was preparing to take off. The RBA pilot-an expatriate-made it fairly clear that he was annoyed that a scheduled flight was being held up.
I have found the in flight service to be quite good on RBA. The cabin crew are recruited from the likes of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Vietnam-I guess there are also a few but not many from Brunei. They are very helpful to passengers and try to make the flights as comfortable as possible. On the extended range Boeing 757 and 767 that I have flown on there is a good deal of leg room and the conditions are not cramped as they are on some other airlines. The in flight entertainment systm is good and the in flight magazine called Muhibbah, is a really good read. It has, I believe, won several international awards. On short haul flights, light meals of a surprisingly good quality are served to passengers but no alcoholic drinks are served on board.
Overall on price, in flight service, cabin crew, and cabin comfort, RBA does not score too badly at all.