Bamboo Airways warned for overselling tickets

Vietnam’s aviation authorities have ordered Bamboo Airways to stop selling tickets for the wrong flight slots after many passengers complained of canceled and delayed flights.

Each airline has an allocated number of flight slots, meaning a specific period of time wherein an aircraft can take off or land at an airport depending on the latter’s capacity, but Bamboo Airways has sold tickets for slots that it does not have, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

In recent weeks customers have been complaining about Bamboo Airways frequently canceling or delaying flights, especially on the Hanoi-Da Nang route.

On March 4, the budget carrier published a public apology over its changing of schedules, blaming it on maintenance work happening at the Noi Bai International Airport.

However, a representative of Noi Bai airport said the maintenance work had finished earlier and that flight schedules were not affected by it.

The CAAV has informed Bamboo Airways that if it ignored the warning and continued to offer tickets for the wrong flight slots, the carrier will not get more slots for six months.

In January, Bamboo Airways, Vietjet, and Vietnam Airlines all received warnings for selling tickets for the wrong slots for the annual Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.