Vietnam’s newest carrier Bamboo Airways has received its operating license, officials and the airline said, paving the best way for its inaugural flight in a region stuffed with competitors, AFP reports.
Led by certainly one of the country’s richest men, Bamboo will compete with established heavyweight carriers akin to national carrier Vietnam Airlines and budget carrier Vietjet to serve a growing middle class with rising travel appetites and budgets.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport said Bamboo’s official aviation license had been approved and that the carrier would aim to operate 100 routes, including to less frequented destinations in Vietnam and other parts of Asia, with plans to eventually fly to North America.
“The first domestic flights… aim to cut back pressure on aviation infrastructure in major cities, strengthen regional links (and) promote tourism to Vietnam,” the Ministry of Transport said in an announcement on Tuesday.
The airline is owned by Trinh Van Quyet, who heads the FLC real estate empire that features lush beach resorts, golf clubs and luxury condos across Vietnam, a rustic still under the rule of one-party communism.
Bamboo has already signed an agreement to buy 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft price $5.6 billion and has committed one other $3.2 billion to buy 24 Airbus A321neo aircraft.
The airline said the inaugural flight, originally scheduled for last month, was expected to happen before the top of the 12 months.
“We have conducted a flight test and the outcomes show that the aircraft fully meets the technical specifications (and is) able to fly,” CEO Dang Tat Thang said in an announcement.
Bamboo hopes to steal competitors’ customers by luring them to off-the-beaten-path destinations in Vietnam, akin to Quy Nhon and Thanh Hoa, and offering bundled travel packages to FLC resorts.
But analysts say the outdated model may not work in an era when most travelers can easily customize their vacations online, and wonder if Bamboo’s big bet can pay off in Southeast Asia’s busy aviation market.
Quyet told AFP in an interview earlier this 12 months that he was confident the airline “will probably be huge” and expected profits soon after launch.
Born right into a poor rural family near Hanoi, where life among the many bamboo trees inspired the airline’s name, he now heads FLC Group, which has a market capitalization of around $200 million.
Vietnam’s aviation sector has expanded in recent times, with passenger numbers rising to 62 million last 12 months from 25 million in 2012.
Six business aviation licenses have already been issued in Vietnam, including helicopter chartering and a seaplane carrier.
Faced with increasingly tight airport capability and fierce competition across the region, especially from low-cost airlines akin to AirAsia and TigerAir, the market is showing signs of cooling.
In 2009, Vietnam’s first operating private airline, Indochina Airlines, ceased operations after only one 12 months out there resulting from financial problems.
Source : AFP
