In March, Bamboo Airways signed a memorandum of understanding with Munich Airport regarding launching flights to the German city. On Wednesday, the young Vietnamese carrier operated its first flight to Germany as part of its series of European repatriations. However, rather than heading to Munich, the flight operated to Frankfurt.
The current situation that the aviation industry has found itself in has by and large been reasonably negative. However, it has spurred a sudden influx of unique flights. Indeed, we say the domestic flight length record was broken not once, but twice. Bamboo Airways has also been operating a series of select flights to Europe. These flights have been operated despite delays to the airline’s official European launch.
Round trip to Frankfurt
Bamboo Airways, on Wednesday, operated its first flight to Frankfurt, Germany. The trip was the fifth in a series of select flights operated by the one and a half-year-old Vietnamese carrier. However, while the other flights have been focused on repatriating Europeans from Vietnam, this one was intended as a charter to bring passengers into the East Asian country.
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The flight out to Frankfurt was direct, departing Ho Chi Minh City at 14:39 local time, according to data from FlightRadar24.com. The aircraft flew for 12 hours and 17 minutes before touching down in the German aviation capital at 21:57.
The return flight carried 226 passengers, according to the airline. These were made up of diplomatic officials, experts, and business people and their relatives who are EU citizens. The aircraft, a Boeing 787-9 registered as VN-A818, flew back to Ho Chi Minh City via Hanoi.
The flight departed from Frankfurt at 06:49 yesterday (July 30th), before touching down in Hanoi at 22:09 after a 10-hour 20-minute flight. Passengers were allowed to disembark in Hanoi. The aircraft then continued onto Ho Chi Minh with the remaining passengers at 00:41. It landed 1 hour and 39 minutes later at 02:19. According to Bamboo Airways, all passengers are undergoing a strict quarantine having arrived in the country.
A sign of things to come?
It seems as though the flight to Frankfurt was well and truly a one-off for the time being. Bamboo Airways previously identified Germany as a critical market, and a gateway to connect to Europe’s regional flight network.
Since first operating in January 2019, Bamboo Airways already operates 22 aircraft in their fleet. For the first time, one of their three Dreamliners touched German ground yesterday. pic.twitter.com/7AWsJGMDW0
— Frankfurt Airport (@Airport_FRA) July 30, 2020
In March, Simple Flying reported that the Vietnamese carrier had signed a memorandum of understanding with Munich Airport regarding a direct link between the two countries. The airline was hoping to launch these flights in July. However, given the current situation, they are yet to materialize.
A Bamboo Airways spokesperson commented:
“We expect that by the period 2021 – 2025, the Carrier’s flight route will cover all the major political and tourism centers in Europe.”
As such, it seems as though Bamboo Airways is now targeting the launch of its first European services next year.
Have you traveled with Bamboo Airways? How did you find it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!