Vietnamese carrier Bamboo Airways has announced plans to fly to the US. The non-stop flight from Vietnam to California will be the only non-stop flight between the two countries. It will not be the first Vietnamese carrier to land in the United States, but so far it seems to beat the domestic airline, Vietnam Airlines, on flights to the United States.
VnExpress reported that Bamboo Airways has received slots and intends to fly from Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN) to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
The daily flights will start operating from September 1, Bamboo Airways will use Boeing 787-9 aircraft on this route. On November 6, Bamboo Airways officially received "Foreign Air Carrier Permit" from the US Department of Transportation (USDOT). Thus, the low-cost airline will be able to operate passenger, cargo and mail flights between Vietnam and the USA.
Bamboo Airways intends to fly to San Francisco and Los Angeles from September 1, 2021.
Less than two months ago, Vietnam Airlines' board of directors approved plans to use Boeing 787-9s to fly to the United States. Initially meeting the repatriation needs, Vietnam Airlines was looking at Los Angeles and San Francisco as possible destinations and expanding to other cities such as Seattle, Dallas and New York.
The real question is which of the two airlines, Vietnam Airlines or Bamboo Airways, will launch these flights first. It has been rumored that both airlines will fly between the two countries, but Bamboo is the first airline to give a launch date. Vietnam is largely closed to leisure travel, so flights would primarily meet the essential needs of travel, cargo and repatriation flights.
In addition, no operator has a code share agreement with any US airline, and for this reason, Vietnam Airlines is more profitable than Bamboo Airways. As a member of the SkyTeam alliance, the flag carrier can call on the alliance's US operator, Delta Air Lines, for a code-sharing relationship in the US.
Bamboo Airways could waive a code-ing agreement, but then rely, for the most part, on the existence of a demand to cover non-stop flights, but which may not be enough. for initial flights - especially in the face of travel restrictions. Instead of a code-sharing relationship, Bamboo Airways could consider interline partnerships.