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News has come in this morning that a startup airline in Vietnam called Bamboo Airways (part of the FLC group) has just made a deposit for 20 Boeing 787-9 dreamliners due for delivery starting in 2020. The airline in March also signed an agreement with Airbus for 24 A321neo aircraft.

In 2010, Vietnam’s tourist numbers reached 5 million for the first time ever. In 2017 this figure has more than doubled to almost 13 million. Will Bamboo Airways jump on this tourism boom and help Vietnam grow even further or has tourism in Vietnam reached in peak?

Where will Bamboo Airways fly?

Bamboo Airways is set to begin commercial operations next year out of Hanoi to various destinations both internally and internationally.

Long haul/international destinations:

Destinations mentioned on their website include: Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore, Hong Kong.

The 787-9 aircraft they have ordered are similar to the aircraft used on Qantas London to Perth flight so we could see potential destinations include: London, Paris, Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco to name a few.

Short haul destinations:

According to Bamboo Airways, Vietnam has 21 operating airports, of which Noi Bai (Hanoi) and Tan Son Nhat (Hoh Chi Minh City) account for 75% of total air traffic movements. Some local airports where tourism hasn’t been fully exploited are operating at a very low capacity, with huge room for growth.

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Phu Quoc for example only operates at 38% capacity and this tropical island of the coast of Vietnam is known for its pristine beaches that rival other islands in the Gulf of Thailand.

We could even see Bamboo Airways operate long haul flights not from Hanoi/Hoh Chi Minh city – TUI operate seasonal winter flights from London Gatwick to Phu Quoc operated by a 787. Could Bamboo Airways mirror such routes bringing tourists directly to relaxation destinations?

Bamboo Airways wants to take full advantage of growing Vietnam’s tourism industry and helping connect tourists to the less visited areas of Vietnam.

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Onboard Bamboo Airways:

We expect that Bamboo Airways will offer 2 travel classes to begin with: Economy/Premium.

Economy:

Similar to Jet Blue Bamboo Airways is expected to offer free snacks and drinks as well as free onboard wifi despite being a low cost carrier. We expect their 787’s will be in a 3-3-3 configuration in economy similar to Scoot’s 787 cabin.

We expect they may charge for seat assignment, especially on extra leg room seats.

Premium:

Right now, unless more information is released we don’t expect Bamboo Airways will offer lie flat seats in their premium cabin, it will be something more like what you see on Norweigan’s or Scoot’s 787 premium cabin with around 45 inches of seat pitch, and 55 inches of leg room.

When will Bamboo Airways commence operations:

According to Bamboo Airways flights are expected to Launch at the end of 2018 this seems rather ambitious as the delivery of Boeing aircraft is set to begin in 2020, and we are unsure when the A321 neo will start delivery as the deal was only signed earlier this year with Airbus.

Conclusion:

Bamboo airways are said to be in the process of recruiting 600 staff members in preparation for operations to start. It’s going to be an exciting few years for the airline and we will continue to write about them as developments are made.