Bamboo Airways (QH, Hanoi Noi Bai International) plans to start its first service to Europe this spring, the airline said on January 14. Its overseas network currently includes services to Taiwan, Macao, and South Korea only.
"We are working hard to quickly complete procedures, officially bringing the [Hanoi Noi Bai International], Vietnam - Prague Václav Havel direct route into operation by April 2020," Bui Quang Dung, Deputy General Director of Bamboo Airways, said in a Facebook post.
The airline intends to launch the service with its growing B787-9 fleet, with the 4,500-nautical mile (8,335-kilometre) sector to be operated 3x weekly. There are currently no direct flights between Vietnam and the Czech Republic. Vietnam Airlines (VN, Hanoi Noi Bai International) operates European services to Frankfurt International, London Heathrow, Moscow Sheremetyevo, and Paris CDG.
Bamboo took delivery of its first B787-9, VN-A819 (msn 62736), at the end of December 2019, and is currently utilising the aircraft on flights between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, often operating three daily return sectors on the city pair. The airline is also taking two ex-Hainan Airlines B787-9s, B-1140 (msn 62739) and B-206R (msn 62725), into its fleet from GECAS and expects to have four of the widebodies by the end of January.
