Royal Brunei Airlines was established on 18 November 1974 with two new Boeing 737-200s. The airline’s first flight was on 14 May 1975 from the 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