A new airline has surfaced in the highly-competitive Southeast Asian market. Does Vietnam have room for another airline?
Bamboo Airways is now operational and will initially operate domestic flights within Vietnam. Here’s the initial route map:
Introductory fares start at $18 each way.
If the carrier grows as expected, it will add regional flights in the future and eventually longhaul flights. Bamboo Airways begins with four aircraft in its fleet:
- 1 Airbus A319-100
- 2 Airbus A320-200
- 1 Airbus A321neo
The following aircraft are on order and will represent the permanent fleet:
- 3 Airbus A320-200
- 23 Airbus A321neo
- 20 Boeing 787-9
That’s quite a fleet for a startup! The carrier hopes to expand to Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan in 2020 and to Europe, Africa, and the Americas by 2023. I’d recommend baby steps…
While it waits for its deliveries, Bamboo Airways will use leased aircraft for its domestic flights.
The airline has introduced a simplified three-tier fare structure:
- Bamboo Eco. For the budget conscious, this fare removes baggage and other services allowing you to save money. If you need to add bags or other services you can add them later. True economy.
- Bamboo Plus. For those who want to have greater flexibility in their travel. Bamboo Plus allows luggage, name changes and multiple payment options. True flexibility.
- Bamboo Business. For the business minded, our business class product offers full flexibility for your travel along with a dedicated on-board product. True value.
The carrier teased the following longhaul business class seats:
On shorthaul flights, Bamboo Airways will use a business class seat like this.
CONCLUSION
While I wish them all the best and hope for resounding success, I’m skeptical. I’ve got to admit, I am concerned at how ambitious Bamboo Airways’ aircraft orders and route expansion plans are.
Do you think Bamboo Airways will succeed?
yea with Vietnam Air, Jetstar, Vietjet already in the market, i dont see this working out so well for them. They will probably be able to fill the SGN-HAN planes due to that being a highly flown route though..
Just a head up about Bamboo Airways…
Despite a pretty decent website, you cannot pay for your tickets using international credit cards. You can only use a specific type of Vietnamese domestic debit/credit cards, or pay in person at their offices in Ho Chi Minh City Airport or other major Vietnamese cities. This is not going to work and I am not surprised with their really low load factors. There are a number of youtube videos posted by Vietnamese passengers/AvGeeks. They seemed to offer some type of snacks (like sandwiches) and limited beverage service for free. Since they leased their planes from many European airlines, they have one European F/A onboard too. This kind of arrangement can’t be cheap.
Interesting heads up Adrian. Were you able to catch any inaugural flights? I always enjoy your trip reports.
Thanks for your kind comment. I really wanted to do it but they gave little advance notice. However the issue is that I can’t pay for a ticket since I am not in Vietnam and have any Vietnamese credit cards. I tried to do the “pay later” function and then called their reservation lines to pay for the ticket. However, their lines were busy all day long. I tried emailing them and they replied the next day with the information I gave you on the earlier thread. Basically for someone not based in Vietnam and without a Vietnam domestic debit/credit card, Bamboo Airways will be out of reach for a while. Hopefully they will fix it before receiving their 787-9s.
Currently looking at booking flights for mid February, but they seem to only be operating a small amount of the planned routes. No Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City, no Hai Phong to Da Nang etc., despite showing on their route network map.
Too bad, would otherwise have given them a try.