Bamboo Airways announces restructuring, closes long-haul operations

Bamboo Airways has announced a restructuring of the airline. As a result, the airline is set to reduce its fleet and close down all long-haul flights effectively end of October 2023. According to a statement from its management, the restructuring is needed to "increase efficiency and optimize operating costs". Further it says "the restructuring process aims to stablize Bamboo Airways' operations and further growth opportunities".

Part of the process is streamlining its fleet to a more uniform fleet. Since the announcement, the airline has returned at least one A320neo, five A321neos, one B787-9, and one ERJ190 to its lessors. The remaining Bamboo Airways-fleet is now composed of six A320, five A320neos, four A321s, one A321neo, two B787-9s, and four ERJ190s. It also has ten open orders with Boeing for the B787-9.

Bamboo Airways was established as a new private carrier in 2017 and launched flights in January 2019. It positoned itself as a hybrid carrier, meaning low-cost prices but with more service than a low-cost carrier, trying to fit itself between Vietnam Airlines and VietJet. From the start, it had large ambitious to not only fly domestic but also international.

Photo by Anton Homma.