Bamboo Airways eyes fleet expansion

The carrier said in a statement Thursday it would lease the first Boeing 787-9 in October since the 10 it has ordered would not be delivered until the fourth quarter of 2020.

Bamboo has received permission from the Ministry of Transport to operate 30 aircraft, and it plans to achieve this number by the end of the first quarter of 2020. The airline, which began flying in January, has yet to break even.

Its chairman, Trinh Van Quyet, has said that with 30 aircraft the carrier could get into the black by the first quarter of 2020. The carrier now flies 10 aircraft on 26 domestic routes besides international charter flights.

Vietnam hopes to grow its aviation market by 16 percent a year in 2015-20 and 8 percent in 2020-30.

This means there will be a possible 117 million air travelers by 2023, 85 percent by Vietnamese carriers, which will require 340 aircraft, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.