Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways plans IPO to fuel ambitious takeoff

Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways plans IPO to fuel ambitious takeoff

Carrier hoping fleet expansion will help it take 30% of domestic market next year.

Quyet expects Bamboo to be first Vietnamese carrier to operate direct flights to US. (Reuters pic)
HANOI:
Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways expects to raise about US$100 million from its planned initial public offering next year to fuel its aggressive expansion in one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets.

“The fundraising will help us expand our fleet as we want to take 30% of the domestic market next year,” Trinh Van Quyet, the Hanoi-based chairman of the startup carrier, said in a phone interview.

Bamboo Airways currently has more than 10% of the market, he said.

Vietnam’s expanding middle class, underpinned by economic growth of about 7%, is giving the nation’s consumers more disposable income to fly.

Vietnam’s airports handled 106 million passengers in 2018, up about 13% from the previous year, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.

Bamboo will list its shares on a stock exchange next year after the IPO, though it hasn’t decided on a bourse yet, Quyet said.

Bamboo Airways now operates 10 aircraft on 25 domestic and international routes.

Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung signed a decision in August allowing the carrier to increase its fleet to 30 aircraft by 2023, according to statement on FLC Group’s website.

The fleet will include both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft.

Bamboo Airways expects to be the first Vietnamese carrier to operate direct flights to the US, planned for late 2020, Quyet said last month.

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