Bamboo Airways set to downsize fleet

After restructuring its flight network, Bamboo Airways has said it will also reduce the number of aircraft to lower costs.

An executive at the airline said the restructuring in the past two months included discontinuing unprofitable routes.

The airline has not yet announced the number or type of aircraft that will be grounded.

According to German civil aviation database Planespotters, Bamboo Airways currently operates 23 aircraft, seven fewer than last year.

It plans to seek approval from regulatory authorities to increase the size of its fleet to over 30 in future, though again, no concrete plans have been announced.

In a recent report to the Ministry of Transport, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said it supports the expansion plan but added the airline needs to ensure it has the financial capacity, human resources, and aviation infrastructure.

By flying three different aircraft – Airbus, Boeing, and Embraer – that do not allow interoperability, Bamboo Airways has additional costs in terms of hiring pilots, technicians, and training instructors for each of them.

Many other Vietnamese carriers, such as Vietjet, Pacific Airlines, and Vietravel Airlines, only fly Airbus aircraft.

All of Vietnam Airlines’ narrow-body aircraft are from Airbus, while its wide-body ones are a mix of Airbus and Boeing.