On February 19, Melbourne Airport together with Bamboo Airways celebrated the first nonstop flight and handed out gifts to their passengers to celebrate this event.

Additionally, on February 20, Bamboo Airways organised the welcome ceremony for its first Vietnam-Australia flights in 2022 at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Commenting at the ceremony, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Department Le Truong Hien Hoa valued Bamboo Airways’ efforts in operating nonstop flights on the route, thus bringing diverse options and benefits for travellers and enhancing bilateral cooperation in economy, tourism, and social exchange.

Truong Phuong Thanh, deputy director of Bamboo Airways, said this would be a stepping stone for Bamboo Airways’ promotion roadmap of upcoming routes between other major cities of Vietnam and Australia and will also create opportunities for passengers to access the international 5-star oriented services of Bamboo Airways.

Bamboo Airways welcomed the first passengers of the Vietnam-Australia flights

In December, Bamboo Airways announced the route and inked a letter of support with Melbourne Airport to promote the flights between the two countries.

The route helps shorten travel time between the two cities to just over seven hours, two hours less than with previous transit flights. The modern wide-body Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is operated on this route with utmost fuel efficiency and superb amenities and services.

Trung Vu, a 39-year-old passenger on the February 19 flight said, "I haven’t seen my family in Melbourne for a long time due to the pandemic. But thanks to this flight, my family and I had a chance to gather around and it feels like we’re turning back to the pre-pandemic life.”

As Australia’s second-largest city, Melbourne has been crowned one of the most livable cities for many years regarding culture, education, and economy. Melbourne Airport is one of the busiest airports of Australia and a crucial gateway in the Asia-Pacific region.

Australia is among the countries with the largest Vietnamese community in the world, with more than 300,000 people, mainly in Sydney and Melbourne. According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the number of Australian tourists to Vietnam in 2019 reached over 383,000, just behind the US, Russia, and some Asian countries. In 2018, there were 562.000 arrivals between Vietnam and Australia.

Preparing international flights

The operation of the Vietnam-Australia route is a part of Bamboo Airways’ international expansion roadmap since its establishment. Based on the travel reopening of the government, Ministry of Transport, Civil Aviation Authority, and relevant authorities, Bamboo has prepared for the resumption and an increase of international flights from the beginning of the year.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner of Bamboo Airways touching down at Melbourne Airport

As for routes to Asia, Bamboo is currently operating Hanoi-Narita, Hanoi-Taipei, and Hanoi-Incheon. As for Europea, the airline plans to launch Hanoi-Frankfurt right from February and Hanoi-London in March.

The airline also plans to gear up operation between Ho Chi Minh City-Frankfurt, Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City-Munich in the coming time. In Southeast Asia, Bamboo Airways is setting for a route between Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore in March and to other countries in the region.

Regarding the fleet, Bamboo Airways has currently 30 aircraft. Adding to the wide-body Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and narrow-body A321/A320NEO, Bamboo also operates Embraer jets for niche routes and restricted airports.

As global aviation is assessed to strongly rebound this year, Bamboo Airways is targeting an expansive network of nearly 40 international routes.