The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAA) on January 8 issued the Aircraft Operator Certificate (AOC) to Bamboo Airways – backed by conglomerate FLC Group, indicating that the airline is now allowed to operate commercial flights.
Illustrative photo.
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Under the plan, Bamboo Airways would operate on 37 flight routes connecting FLC’s resorts in Vietnam, in addition to international flights from major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to countries in the region.
In the early stage, the airline is scheduled to operate 60 domestic flights per day, for which the first flight is reportedly in mid-January.
According to Thang, Bamboo Airways would have a fleet of 20 aircraft under its disposal in the first period of operation in the first quarter of 2019, which later would increase to 40 – 50. Meanwhile, new airplanes from two contracts worth US$8.8 billion signed with Airbus and Boeing are tentatively scheduled to be delivered from 2020.
On December 17, Bamboo Airways received its first aircraft, which was an A319 leased from aircraft-leasing company WWTAI AirOpCo II DAC for 48 months. The airline is expected to add an A321Neo in a long-term leasing contract from GECAS, a subsidiary of General Electrics on January 10, 2019.
In addition to Bamboo Airways, Vietnam currently has four airlines, including national carrier Vietnam Airlines, budget operator Jetstar Pacific Airlines (partly owned by Vietnam Airlines), budget carrier Vietjet Aviation, and Vietnam Air Services (VASCO).
