Bamboo Airways has been talking about plans to launch flights between Vietnam, the United States for the past few months. Many foreign airlines talk about launching flights from the United States but it rarely happens.
Bamboo Airways is moving ahead with its plans and could soon see regular scheduled flights between the countries. Let me first update you on Bamboo Airways' flight to the USA. Then I will recap what we have known for some time.
Bamboo Airways will fly 12 times to the USA
Bamboo Airways plans to fly a dozen to the United States between September 2021 and November 2021.
These flights will serve as proving flights before the airline launches regularly scheduled service.
The airline will fly to Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco, and Seattle (SFO). The first flight is scheduled for September 23, 2021.
The airline will also be setting up an American office, signing memorandums of understanding with airports, and meeting representatives from Boeing in Seattle.
Bamboo Airways Boeing 787-9
Bamboo Airways plans LAX & SFO service
Bamboo Airways will be operating a dozen flights to the United States in the next weeks. When can we expect regular scheduled flights? Bamboo Airways plans to start regularly scheduled, nonstop flights between Vietnam (or the United States) by the end of 2021/early 2022.
It is planned that the airline will operate nonstop between Ho Chi Minh City and Los Angeles using Boeing 787-9 aircraft. Although we don't have any news on this, previous reports suggest the following flight times:
The flight of 8,169 miles between Ho Chi Minh City and Los Angeles (LAX), would take off at LAX at 9:30AM, and return at 12:30PM.
The 7,838-mile flight between Ho Chi Minh City, SGN and San Francisco (SFO), would arrive at SFO at 10.30AM and depart at 1PM.
Even though Bamboo Airways is making progress towards launching these services, I would not consider regularly scheduled service a sure thing until it happens. There has been talk of airlines from Vietnam wanting to fly non-stop to the USA for quite some time.
Bamboo Airways plans to fly to the USA
Bamboo Airways has been approved by the DOT for USA flights
Bamboo Airways has stated that it will fly to LAX and SFO. However, it is worth taking a look at the documents filed by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) back when it applied for permission to fly in the United States. The airline requested permission to:
Provide service between Hanoi/or Ho Chi Minh City, the United States via intermediate points at Nagoya/Osaka and/or Taipei. It was noted that the airline would not be able to transport passengers between Japan/the United States. However, that was not stated for Taiwan.
Fly to Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.
Provide additional connecting services between Canada and the United States, including to Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, and Toronto
The airline seems to have requested more permission than necessary, as the plans filed seem absurd. The Boeing 787-9 is able to fly non-stop from Ho Hi Minh City, Vietnam, to Los Angeles and San Francisco.
For New York and Dallas, for instance, a stop would be necessary. However, I find it difficult to imagine that those routes will become reality. This is because the airline does not have a competitive advantage over airlines that offer one-stop service.
Even stranger is the idea of providing connecting service to Canada. How do we define routing here, Ho Chi Minh City-Osaka-New York-Montreal?
As I mentioned, I believe that the Ho Chi Minh City-to-Los Angeles and San Francisco flights are in the cards right now. However, I don't think any other routes were approved for.
What exactly is Bamboo Airways?
Bamboo Airways is a private Vietnamese airline, which was established in 2017. Already, the airline has many planes including new Airbus A321neos as well as Boeing 787-9s.
In its initial operation, the airline operated only in a regional area. Then, in early 2020, it announced plans for launching a long-haul route to Prague. The pandemic meant that this didn't go as planned.
The economics of this airline are beyond my comprehension. While there are some costs, including labor, that are lower in Vietnam than elsewhere, the country is growing rapidly and being very pro-business. However, carriers' growth is not common.
Bamboo Airways also offers Airbus A321neos flights.
What is the Bamboo Airways Boeing 787-9 like?
Bamboo Airways will fly to the USA using Boeing 787-9s. Three of these aircraft are already in the airline's fleet. A further eleven are currently on order. Bamboo Airways offers business class seats with reverse herringbone, which are very competitive.
Bamboo Airways Boeing 787-9 business Class
The airline also offers premium economy and economy seats on Boeing 787s.
Bamboo Airways Boeing 787-9 premium economy
Most intriguing of all, some future 787 deliveries by Bamboo Airways will allegedly include first class suites. I would not be surprised to see these offered on flights to the United States. However, we don't know what product the airline might offer.
Bottom line
Bamboo Airways will be operating a dozen tests flights between Vietnam, the United States and Vietnam in the coming weeks. Bamboo Airways hopes to then launch regular scheduled service to Los Angeles or San Francisco at the beginning or end of 2022.
It is anyone's guess if these flights will actually launch on a regular basis. For a long time, there has been talk about nonstop flights between Vietnam & the United States. I have to say that I feel like this is the closest service we've ever seen become a reality.
As a passenger experience and airline geek, one thing is certain: I would love to give Bamboo Airways another chance. Bamboo Airways should have airline partnerships that allow you to redeem and earn miles. Here's hoping!
Are you positive that Bamboo Airways will offer USA service?
