Bamboo Airways received AOC to officially take-off

Bamboo Airways staff ready for the official take-off

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) officially granted the Aircraft Operator Certificate (AOC) to Bamboo Airways, which will allow the airlines to officially operate aircrafts and provide related services in the Vietnamese aviation market.

Bamboo Airways has passed the five-phase initial AOC application process including pre-application discussion, formal application, document evaluation, demonstration and inspection, and certification.

According to Dang Tat Thang, Bamboo Airways’ general director, it took four years to achieve the AOC with the efforts of all Bamboo Airways staff.

Bamboo Airways expects to operate 37 routes connecting all major cities and popular tourist destinations in Vietnam with international destinations in 2019.

The first domestic routes are Hanoi-Quy Nhon, Hanoi-Dong Hoi, Ho Chi Minh City-Quy Nhon, Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City, and Ho Chi Minh City-Van Don, among others, with the goal of reducing pressure on aviation infrastructure in big cities, and at the same time strengthening regional links, raising the international status of the Vietnamese tourism industry.

Bamboo Airways will operate 60 domestic flights a day. It also scheduled to launch international flights in 2019 to Asian countries, starting with Japan, Korea, Singapore, and then to European countries.

To prepare for this plan, from March to June 2018, the firm signed two agreements worth $8.8 billion to buy A321 NEO and 787-9 Dreamliner aircrafts from two major international partners, Airbus and Boeing. While waiting for the new aircrafts to be delivered, Bamboo Airways plans to rent 20 aircrafts, expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2019.

An Air Operator Certificate (AOC) is an Aviation Safety Instrument (ASI) that authorises an operator to carry out specified commercial air transport operations, and is issued by CAAS under the aviation safety subsidiary legislation.