Brunei Darussalam’s frst two Airbus C295MW medium tactical transport aircraft enter into service. The Royal Brunei Air Force is to become the 39th operator of the C-295 aircraft worldwide and the eighth in the Asia-Pacific region. This is part of a four-aircraft acquisition announced in December 2022 and to be operated by the Royal Brunei Air Force (RBAirF). Designated as C295MW, the addition will strengthen the country’s air capabilities and can be deployed on a wide range of missions, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations, medical evacuations, noncombatant evacuation, as well as search and rescue operations.
The Introduction to Service of the first two C295MW aircraft was from the recent proceedings following His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah ibni His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, after gracing the Aircraft Arrival Ceremony at the Rimba Air Force Base on 24 January 2024. Accompanying His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam to the Introduction to Service Ceremony was His Royal Highness 920 Major (U) Prince ‘Abdul Mateen ibni His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah.
The Ministry of Defence signed the certificate of Customer Acceptance Test for the first C295MW aircraft under the Air Transport project in December 2023. The Customer Acceptance Test was part of the acceptance requirements to be conducted before the aircraft is flown to Brunei Darussalam for delivery in January 2024. Upon arrival to Brunei Darussalam, a Site Acceptance Test performed and the title of the aircraft shall then be transferred to the Ministry of Defence. The signing was the first out of two in the near future. Both aircraft are scheduled to be flown and delivered together to Brunei Darussalam in January 2024.
The Airbus C295 is a medium tactical transport aircraft that was designed and initially manufactured by the Spanish aerospace company CASA (now Airbus). Work on what would become the C-295 was started during the 1990s as a derivative of the successful CASA/IPTN CN-235 transport aircraft. In April 1999, the Spanish Air Force became its launch customer with an order for nine military-configured C-295s; two years later, the type was declared operational with the service. Both manufacturing and final assembly of the C-295 is normally performed at the Airbus Defence and Space facilities in San Pablo Airport, located in Seville, Spain.
