Bamboo Airways plans to soar under new management

Bamboo Airways began flying in 2019 and became the first private carrier to operate wide-body aircraft.

It quickly expanded its fleet to nearly 30 by the end of 2021 when it held a 20% share of the domestic market and also flew on some international routes.

But the arrest of its key leaders, including chairman Trinh Van Quyet, for alleged stock market manipulation came as a death blow.

Him Lam, a south-based developer of condos and a hotel management service provider, took over Bamboo this year.

A new leadership has been appointed this week to hopefully begin a new chapter.

“The last five years have been a journey of establishing a brand for the airline,” deputy chairman Nguyen Ngoc Trong said at the company’s annual general meeting on June 21.

“In the next five years Bamboo Airways will focus on developing efficiency and professionalism.”

CEO Nguyen Minh Hai said the company seeks to achieve breakeven by next year to turn profitable by 2025.

Expanding its services to increase revenues is therefore one of its main focuses.

Revenues soared by 3.3 times last year to over VND11.7 trillion, but the airline still could not break even.

Hai said a larger fleet is imperative for doing this. The current fleet of 30 aircraft needs to be expanded by eight to 10 a year until 2026, and each aircraft needs to operate more than the current 10 hours a day, he explained.

Reducing costs is another key task.