Bamboo Airways seeks six-fold increase in charter capital

By Anh Tu July 29, 2019 | 05:11 am PT

Bamboo Airways launched its first flight earlier this year. Shutterstock/Phuong D. Nguyen.

Private airline Bamboo Airways wants to increase its charter capital to VND8.3 trillion ($358 million) by 2023 to triple its fleet.

The airline has submitted a proposal to this effect to the Ministry of Transport, which has responded that it needs to develop a plan to train human resources, especially pilots and technicians, to have enough staff to operate more aircraft by 2023.

The ministry last month approved in principle Bamboo Airways’s proposal to expand its fleet from 10 to 30 after the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) expressed concerns about its own capability to manage more aircraft as well as Bamboo Airways’s capability to operate them.

Bamboo Airways’s charter capital could increase from the current VND1.3 trillion ($56 million) this year to VND2 trillion ($86.2 million) when FLC issues more shares to existing shareholders.

The airline this month said it has served over 1 million passengers since launching its first flight earlier this year.

On Sunday, the airline broke ground for an aviation academy to train 3,500 aviation staff a year starting towards the end of 2021.