Vietnamese carrier Bamboo Airways will resume domestic flights starting on April 16th. The relatively new carrier will gradually resume flights starting first with flights between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Domestic flight resumption
Starting from April 16th, Bamboo Airways will begin resuming its domestic services as announced in a Facebook post:
The airline will start first by increasing the number of daily roundtrip flights between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This is a major route in Vietnam that is one of the busiest in the world as it links the two largest cities in the nation. And, in a testament to the growing Vietnamese market, it became the busiest route in the world amid a decline in travel demand due to the pandemic.
From then on, Bamboo Airways will slowly reopen additional flights. From Hanoi, the airline will operate flights to Cam Ranh, Da Nang, Phu Quoc, and Quy Nhon.
From Ho Chi Minh City, the carrier will service Da Nang, Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa, Quy Nhon, and Vinh.
These are all important destinations for the airline and once the situation improves and leisure travel becomes feasible again, a number of these cities can be a fantastic vacation point.
Bamboo Airways’ current operations
Currently through April 15th, Bamboo Airways is only operating one roundtrip per day between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In order to travel, however, passengers have to bring documentation certifying their health. This can be either a certificate of quarantine completion or else a certificate of a negative test result for the virus.
These flights are separate from their rescue flights in recent weeks.
The flight experience on Bamboo Airways
On the ground and in the air, Bamboo Airways is taking measures to promote healthy flying. This includes requiring passengers to wear a face mask from check-in all the way until arrival. During boarding and check-in, passengers should maintain a distance of at least two meters (or about six feet) apart.
Onboard the aircraft, passengers should not expect the carrier to return to normal inflight service. There will continue to be limited food and beverage on aircraft in an effort to minimize interactions between the flight crew and passengers.
To adhere to social distancing, it appears that Bamboo Airways is blocking middle seats on aircraft.
And, in business class, Bamboo Airways appears to be blocking aisle seats.
Overall
Though not a complete return to normal, Bamboo Airways will start to resume domestic operations from April 16th. These flights will allow for the movement of people back home who may have been otherwise stuck amid a slashing of domestic flights. For now, however, it appears unlikely that tourists will be able to take a leisure vacation anywhere in the country.
Will you be taking any of these domestic flights on Bamboo Airways? Let us know in the comments!
