Deputy PM tells ministries to help resolve Bamboo Airways’ woes

The carrier has been able to build a brand and gain favor among customers by providing quality service since its establishment, but is now facing losses and debts due to certain difficulties, he said.

So entities like the Ministries of Transport and Finance need to help it resolve them and report to the Prime Minister’s Office by Dec. 31, he said.

He also called on Bamboo Airways’ partners Petrolimex and Airports Corporation of Vietnam and lenders MSB, Sacombank, OCB, and NCB to provide assistance to it.

In August the government had also instructed its agencies to help the carrier overcome its challenges.

The airline has been going through major restructuring and changes to its top management.

It told the government last week that it has a surplus of hundreds of flight attendants and many pilots after cutting down its fleet size by two-thirds.

It also has large debts and owes refunds to customers.

It is now operating 10 aircraft on 16 domestic routes, and plans to add two more before the Lunar New Year in early February.

It hopes to improve its finances by the fourth quarter of next year but still expects to lose VND1 trillion ($41.27 million) during the quarter.