Viet Nam's Bamboo Airways chooses Oz for inc'l debut

Bamboo Airways will make its intercontinental debut with the launch of scheduled flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Melbourne Tullamarine on April 1, 2022. It will also be the first new international route by any carrier to Melbourne since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Vietnamese carrier will operate the route using B787-9 aircraft, initially 2x weekly, but with a view to doubling the frequency in future. It said that the choice of the destination was motivated by significant demand from the Vietnamese diaspora; around a third of some 300,000 Vietnamese-Australians live in Melbourne. The city is also a popular destination for Vietnamese workers and students. In the future, the airline plans to connect Melbourne with Hanoi as well. Bamboo Airways will compete directly with Vietnam Airlines, which operates from Ho Chi Minh City to both Melbourne and Sydney Kingsford Smith. Before the pandemic, Jetstar Airways used to ply the route as well.<br/>