Vietnam start-up Bamboo Airways will miss its 29 December start date, and aims to commence services in the middle of January 2019.
A report by Reuters, quoting airline chief executive Dang Tat Thang, indicates that the carrier has yet to attain the necessary licences to launch services.
Bamboo Airways has missed several planned launch dates. Initially it hoped to launch in early 2018, but this shifted to 10 October 2018, and then 29 December 2018.
In November, the carrier said that Vietnam prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had given approval for an air transport business licence.
FLC also disclosed a formal letter from the government approving the carrier's launch. This bore the signature of deputy prime minister Trinh Dinh Dung, but not that of the prime minister.
Dang did not reply to FlightGlobal’s request for comment on the latest delay.
Nonetheless, the airline is preparing its fleet.
Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that five Airbus A320 family jets – one A319 and four A320s – will see leases start with the carrier on 15 January 2019. The lease of another A320 will commence on 25 January.
Two A320s and the A319 are managed by Standard Chartered. Dragon Aviation Leasing manages one of the remaining A320s, and Aviation Capital Group another A320. The last A320 is managed by Lithuania’s Small Planet Airlines.
None of the six jets has received a Vietnamese registration. The A319 is equipped with 128 seats in a two-class configuration, with eight in business class and 120 in economy. Three of the A320s have 180 seats in an all-economy configuration. The remaining two A320s have 159 seats in an all-economy configuration.
In addition, three on-order A320neos managed by CDB Aviation are scheduled to start their leases in October 2019.
The airline also has letters of intent for 24 A321neos and 20 Boeing 787-9s.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
