A Royal Brunei Airlines 787-8 on the Boeing factory flight line at Everett – Photo: Bernie Leighton

A new 787-8 rolled out of the Boeing Everett paint hangar recently that represented two new milestones – the aircraft is the first 787 headed to southeast Asia, and first delivered to Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA).  Even better, it’s the first Boeing jet to sport RBA’s new livery.

Royal Brunei, based in the small southeast-Asian Sultanate of Brunei, has been around for quite some time. The airline formed in 1974 with a fleet of two Boeing 737-200s serving the surrounding region (Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia).  As the airline expanded over time, so did the size of aircraft that they operated.  They now run a regional Airbus A320-family fleet and a long-haul fleet of ex-Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-200ERs. But soon they will be adding the 787 Dreamliner to their fleet.