Bamboo Airways suspends ticket sales as fleet shrinks to one operating aircraft
Bamboo Airways’ fleet has shrunk to a single in-service aircraft and ticket sales have been paused as the future of the Vietnamese carrier hangs in the balance.
The private airline, which commenced operations in 2019, has been scaling back its operation, and AGN searches of Bamboo Airways’ booking system on 4 August showed no available flights on key domestic routes.
Since 1 August, searches on the airline’s website are reported to have returned no available flights on major city pairs including Hanoi–Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi–Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City–Da Nang.
At the same time, the airline has been cancelling flights since the end of last month.
Bamboo Airways fleet reduces to a single aircraft
The scaling back coincides with a dramatic reduction in Bamboo Airways’ fleet. From a peak of 44 aircraft, the carrier is now understood to have just three airframes: a parked Airbus A320-200, a parked Airbus A320neo, and an in-service Airbus A321-200.
The latter, VN-A227, is a 13-year-old airframe on lease with Bamboo Airways since March 2023.
Bamboo Airways had several more A320-family aircraft and a single Boeing 737-900ER in its fleet as recently at the start of the year, according to planespotters.net.
Safety incident involving a Boeing 787
The airline’s fleet of three Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners exited the fleet by the end of 2023.
That was not before a safety incident at Australia’s Melbourne Airport in September 2023 when, on 18 September, a Bamboo Airways Boeing 787-9 passed just 4.5 metres above an active worksite where construction crews were resurfacing runway 34.
At the time, the runway was temporarily shortened from its usual length of 3,659 metres to just 2,089 metres, allowing for night-time resurfacing works.
In a similar incident days earlier, a Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-300 took off from runway 34 but cleared the worksite by just 7 metres.
According to the ATSB investigation, communications on the shortened runway to flight crews were unclear, though noted in NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen) and ATIS (Automatic Terminal Information Service) bulletins.
“Neither flight crew identified that the runway was significantly shortened, despite the relevant NOTAM being provided in their flight briefing packs,” ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said. “And while both crews accessed a version of the ATIS that mentioned the shortened runway, they only noted to air traffic control the weather information from the ATIS, and not the reduced runway length.”
Bamboo Airways’ future in doubt after fleet and route cuts
Bamboo Airways was established in 2017 and began commercial operations in January 2019, becoming Vietnam’s first private full-service airline.
The carrier was launched with ambitions to expand connectivity across Vietnam while building an international network linking the country with destinations overseas.
At its peak, Bamboo was growing rapidly, with both a narrow-body and wide-body fleet, allowing it to compete with the region’s established airlines on domestic and regional routes. Its offering centred on full-service travel, with an emphasis on punctuality, onboard service and passenger experience.
The airline expanded its network and fleet significantly during its early years, including services to destinations beyond Vietnam. It also developed airport lounges and a full-service cabin offering.
What has the airline said about the situation?
Bamboo Airways has acknowledged the disruption to its services, apologising to passengers affected by what it described as an “adjustment” to its operations.
The airline said it was “currently focusing resources to ensure the rights of passengers” and would offer refunds to customers whose flights had been affected.
Passengers have been asked to submit their details through the company’s online information centre.
The carrier also said it would publish further information on affected services, without giving details of how the situation may develop over the next days and weeks.
