Bamboo Airways signs deal to buy 10 Boeing planes
Bamboo Airways, Vietnam’s newest carrier, signed a nearly-3-billion-USD contract to buy 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner wide-body jets with the US group on February 27.
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| President of FLC Group Trinh Van Quyet (R) and Kevin McAllister, CEO and President at Boeing Commercial Airplanes Inc., |
Kevin McAllister, CEO and President at Boeing Commercial Airplanes Inc., said that the new contract will help promote and consolidate the partnership between Boeing and Bamboo Airways.
Boeing is willing to support the Vietnamese carrier in connecting Vietnam with key markets in Asia, Europe and North America, he added.
Last June, the carrier, owned by property developer FLC Group, also signed a deal to buy 20 Boeing 787-9 planes worth 5.6 billion USD. The first planes are expected to be handed over to the carrier in the third quarter of 2020.
Bamboo Airways is considering the purchase of 25 Boeing 737 Max narrow-body jets with an estimated value of 2.5 billion USD.
Dang Tat Thang, General Director of Bamboo Airways, stated that the airline’s moves are aimed at improving its operation and increasing competitiveness in potential but challenging international routes.
In March 2018, Bamboo Airways inked a deal to buy 24 Airbus A321 NEO planes worth 3.2 billion USD, under the witness of Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong and President of France’s National Assembly Francois de Rugy.
After its first commercial flight on January 16, 2019, the airline has conducted over 1,000 safe flights transporting around 90,000 passengers.
It plans to operate 37-40 domestic air routes this year, contributing to promoting trade and tourism between regions.
The airline also aims to launch international service in the second quarter, with the first destinations slated to be Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan (China), Australia, the UK, France and China.
