Bamboo Airways' query to take to the skies was refused

CAA refused issuing a licence to Bamboo Airways as it is not a registered air transport service company. Source: FLC

Bamboo Airways was recently refused to fly local routes as it does not have an air transportation business licence, according to newswire Zing.vn.

In it refusal, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) showed that according to the Law on Civil Aviation and Law No.61/2014/QH13 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Vietnam Civil Aviation Law, Bamboo Airways is not a recognised air transport service company, thus it cannot be licensed to fly on domestic flights.

According to CAA, after Bamboo Airways receives the air transportation business licence from the Ministry of Transport, the company will have to submit a feasibility report for each route it wants to fly.

Previously, the first Bamboo Airways flight failed to take off on October 10 as planned due to the lack of the licence. Instead, the company moved its first commercial flight to the fourth quarter of this year.

Bamboo Airways was established by FLC Group last year, with the charter capital of VND700 billion ($30.4 million). In July, FLC decided to increase the airline’s charter capital to VND1.3 trillion ($56.5 million).

FLC stated that Bamboo Airways will focus on international routes from Northeast Asia such as Japan, South Korea, and China to Vietnamese tourist destinations in Quy Nhon (Binh Dinh), Quang Ninh, and Nha Trang. In the future, the airline is planning to open routes to the US and Europe.

In the country, Bamboo Airways’ strategy is to develop routes connecting tourist destinations, including Thanh Hoa-Quy Nhon, Thanh Hoa-Phu Quoc, and Thanh Hoa-Nha Trang.

Previously, despite not having been granted a business licence, FLC reached a $8.6 billion agreement with US-based Boeing Company and French Airbus Group to buy 44 airplanes, which is a sizeable fleet as Jetstar has only 19 airplanes and Vietjet has 47.