Currently undergoing a financial restructuring process, Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways has said it is already planning the introduction of several new aircraft into its fleet in the coming years.
Following a turbulent few months in which the carrier said goodbye to its long-haul services along with its trio of Boeing 787-9s, the privately owned airline is already plotting its comeback in the Vietnamese domestic and regional markets from its home base at Hanoi Hoi Bai International Airport (HAN) with the addition of additional narrowbody aircraft.
Despite the airline having bid farewell to a further 16 aircraft from its fleet (in addition to its 787s) since the end of October 2023 as lessors took back aircraft leased to the carrier, the company remains optimistic about its future.
The airline’s newly appointed Director General, Luong Hoai Nam, has said that the carrier will return to operating 30 aircraft within three to four years. In the shorter term, he hopes to see the restructured airline operating around 18 aircraft by the end of 2024 and expects Bamboo Airways to become an all-Airbus airline for the foreseeable future.
The airline is currently operating a vastly reduced fleet of two Airbus A320s, four A320neos, four A321neos plus five smaller Embraer ERJ-190-100LRs. The airline has also recently slashed its payroll costs by around 60% and terminated all its foreign pilot contracts.
The airline has also announced that it is to lease two further A320 family aircraft from January 1, 2024, to provide 20% extra capacity over the upcoming New Year and Têt (Vietnamese New Year) travel peak. The carrier confirmed that it has sourced a single leased A320-200 plus an A321-200 from an unnamed lessor to meet demand over the upcoming travel peak.
During the financial restructuring process, the carrier has been working on improving its commercial efficiency. It has been reducing frequencies on several inefficient routes that saw low passenger demand while it has also increased services on routes recording high demand.
The airline’s three previously leased Boeing 787-9s are all back in the hands of leasing firm CALC which is actively remarketing the aircraft to other prospective carriers. In their Bamboo Airways configuration, the aircraft seated 294 passengers in total with 26 business class seats, 21 seats in premium economy, and 247 seats in economy.