During fibreoptic intubation, it is often difficult to advance a tracheal tube over the fibreoptic bronchoscope. We performed a prospective randomised study to investigate the effect of the jaw-thrust manoeuvre on the ability to advance a tracheal tube during oral fibreoptic intubation. After placing the bronchoscope in the trachea, an assistant randomly applied a jaw-thrust manoeuvre (jaw-thrust group) or sham manoeuvre (control group) in 82 patients during tube advancement. The jaw-thrust group had a higher success rate on the first attempt (70.7% vs 34.1%, p=0.002), required fewer attempts (median (IQR [range]) 1 (12 [13]) vs 2 (13 [14]), p<0.001), and took less time [6 (48 [216]) s vs 10 (715 [340]) s, p<0.001] for tube advancement compared with the control group. The jaw-thrust manoeuvre facilitates the advancement of a tracheal tube over the bronchoscope during oral fibreoptic intubation.