On Sunday, Vietnamese carrier Bamboo Airways celebrated the delivery of their first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The airline is now the first privately held Vietnamese carrier to operate widebody aircraft.
Bamboo Airways announced Monday that they have taken delivery of their first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with dual celebrations in Hanoi and Ha Long. With the delivery of the new aircraft named “Ha Long Bay,” Bamboo Airways becomes the first private airline to operate widebody aircraft in Vietnam. After arrival in Hanoi, the first domestic flight brought the airline’s flagship aircraft to Van Don International Airport in Ha Long (Quang Ninh). The middle sibling in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner family, Bamboo’s 787-9 carries 46 more passengers than the 787-8 and has a longer range than the 787-10. When compared to other aircraft in its class, the 787-9 delivers a 20% reduction in fuel burn and maintenance costs which are 30-40% lower. In 2020, Bamboo Airways will operate the aircraft on medium and long-haul routes to Asia, Europe and the US. In Monday’s announcement, Boeing’s Senior Vice President Commercial Sales and Marketing, Ihssane Mounir said,
“Bamboo Airways has seen remarkable growth since the start of its operation nearly one year ago. The airline is positioned to become a key player in serving the rapidly rising domestic Vietnamese market and achieve its long-range plan to connect Asia with Europe, North America and beyond. We are honored that they have selected the innovative 787 Dreamliner for its long-haul expansion. T he Dreamliners will bring the perfect combination of efficiency and flexibility for Bamboo Airways to serve new Point-to-point regional and international destinations.”
Bamboo Airways expects to receive four Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners by January 2020. The new aircraft “Ha Long Bay” will start its initial revenue service in early January on the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi – Phu Quoc route in order to meet travel demand during the Lunar New Year holiday. Bamboo Airways’ first revenue flight took place in January 2019 and the carrier now operates 34 domestic and international routes. The nascent airline has already conducted over 20,000 flights, carrying more than 2M passengers with an on-time performance of 94% for the first eleven months of operation. In 2020, the airline expects to launch an initial public offering (IPO), launch 85 new routes and acquire a 30% market share. The ambitious airline expects to have a fleet of 100 aircraft serving 50M customers annually by 2025. Also commenting in Monday’s announcement, Bamboo Airways’ Deputy General Director, Eddy Doyle added,
“From these solid platforms, Bamboo Airways is accelerating towards the target of acquiring 30% of domestic aviation market by 2020, expanding the network to 85 routes by 2020, including 60 domestic and 25 international routes. At the same time, we are focusing on the cooperation with the world’s leading partners in the field of aviation technology and training to further improve the overall quality of service.”
Bamboo Airways has attracted many domestic and international investors as they prepare for their 2020 IPO, hoping to achieve a market capitalization of $1billion (USD).
Source: Bamboo Airways