BAMBOO AIRWAYS POISED TO JOIN VIETNAM SKIES
HANOI: Vietnam’s skies are about to get more crowded.
With state-owned Vietnam Airlines JSC and budget carrier VietJet Aviation JSC serving one of the world’s busiest routes, property developer FLC Group JSC wants a piece of the action with a new airline, operating 37 routes in the country after its inaugural flight in October.
Bamboo Airways, the new airline still needs a government aviation licence before operating and is seeking to capitalise on the growing middle class and rapidly expanding tourism industry.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts Vietnam will be among the world’s top five fastest-growing air travel markets in the next 20 years.
The route between here and Ho Chi Minh City was already the world’s sixth-busiest in terms of passenger numbers last year, according to IATA.
The aviation industry handled 23.6 million passengers during the first half of the year, a 15 per cent increase from the same period last year, according to Hanoi’s General Statistics Office.
“With a good investment, wellprepared staff and new aircraft, we will become a giant right after we launch the airline,” said chairman Trinh Van Quyet in an interview in his office.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said the company had met “sufficient conditions” required to be able to fly in October and the flight licence was forthcoming, he added.
Bamboo Airways’ proposal was being reviewed, according to a transport ministry official. Still, the startup airline may struggle to crack Vietnam’s aviation market, which also includes Vietnam Airlines’s budget carrier unit and joint venture with Jetstar Pacific.