Bamboo Airways eyes to be first Vietnamese carrier to fly directly to US
(VOVWORLD) - Bamboo Airways makes no secret of its ambition to become the first airline in Vietnam to operate direct flights to the United States, the airline’s Deputy Director General Truong Phuong Thanh said at a recent seminar.
 The“Vietnam – US Direct Route: Ready for Taking Off” seminar. (Photo: VNA) |
“Bamboo Airways will be the first in Vietnam to open Vietnam – US direct route,” he said, adding that he has full confidence that the new budget carrier can achieve this goal.
Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc highly spoke of the airline’s ambition, saying not only the US is Vietnam’s potential market but Vietnam is also a promising market the US wants to access.
In February, Vietnam received a Category 1 aviation safety rating from the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
With the CAT 1 status, Vietnamese carriers will be able to establish direct services to the US and carry the code of US carriers upon completion of the necessary remaining steps, including Vietnamese airports earning approval to comply with ICAO security standards and recommended practices from the US Transportation Security Administration, and Vietnamese airlines earning economic authority from the US Department of Transportation.
Statistics by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam show that the number of passengers flying between Vietnam and the US grew 8 percent annually in average from 2010 – 2017 with more than 700,000 passengers in 2017.
Last year, about 107,000 Vietnamese people travelled to the US.