HANOI, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Bamboo Airways, a unit of Vietnamese property developer FLC Group, has been licensed and expected to operate late this year, local media reported on Tuesday.
With a charter capital of 700 billion Vietnamese dong (30.4 million U.S. dollars), Bamboo Airways will launch 100 domestic and international routes, focusing on direct services connecting many cities in the world with emerging tourist destinations in Vietnam, online newspaper VietnamPlus quoted the carrier's director Dang Tat Thang as saying.
The new airline has signed deals totaling 8.6 billion U.S. dollars to purchase 44 Boeing and Airbus aircraft.
According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport, the local aviation market's annual growth rate will be 16 percent from now to 2020, and 8 percent in the 2020-2030 period. Local carriers are expected to serve 64 million passengers by 2020 and 131 million passengers by 2030.
Vietnam's aviation industry served 41.3 million passengers in the first 10 months of this year, up 12.2 percent year-on-year, and transported 330,500 tons of cargoes, up 21.1 percent, according to the General Statistics Office.
Vietnam currently has four operational airlines, namely Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Jetstar Pacific, and Vietnam Air Services Company, with national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and budget carrier Vietjet Air holding the lion's share of the local aviation market.
