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Bamboo’s Prague plan earns government praise
October 11th 2019
Privately-owned Bamboo lauded by Vietnamese and Czech leaders. Read More »
The rapid growth of privately-owned airlines raises the question of how they garner political support to eat into flag carrier market share.
Bamboo Airways strategically announced its first intercontinental flight, a Hanoi-Prague service to operate three times a week with a 787 from an unspecified time in the first quarter of next year. Bamboo recently started selling flights to Seoul on its website, its first destination to be on free sale. Existing international flights are sold as charters.
Bamboo made the announcement during a state visit to Vietnam by Czech Republic deputy prime minister, Jan Hamacek, which was hosted by Vietnamese prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Both leaders praised Bamboo’s plan, which will be the first flight between Vietnam and the Czech Republic. Vietnam Airlines serves Frankfurt, London and Paris.
The new route was one of a series of announcements made during trade talks between the two leaders. Prominent amongst them was the signing of the European Union – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the EU – Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement.
Bamboo shareholder, FLC Group, owns resorts and said it planned to work with Bamboo to offer package tours for inbound traffic. Outbound Vietnam traffic may be lured by the Czech Republic’s lower costs compared with elsewhere in Europe. AirAsia group boss, Tony Fernandes, said Eastern Europe, particularly Prague, is an attractive market when the group resumes European services. It expects Thai AirAsia X to return the airline group to European destinations.
