Bamboo Airways Looks To Join Global Alliance

Bamboo Airways offers great service, but the company operates at huge loss. If looking at the balance sheets, they won't even be qualified to join any alliance. Their existence is always at stake.

The 787s don’t offer first class. Just business. And things have been a bit of a rollercoaster for them recently; their former CEO recently resigned due to a stock market scandal.

If they actually qualified, Star Alliance has a new opening as Asiana is leaving with the merger with Korean Air. Bamboo is too amateur to be a global airline. On my domestic flight, the level of English was dour and the lady in front of me kept fainting with action by crew. On the other hand, they're rarely delayed unlike Vietnam Airlines.

Wishful thinking: this might lead to one US carrier finally committing to a nonstop to SGN/HAN, with some healthy local feed.

Even TAROM is part of an alliance....

I was in Danang a few weeks ago the day before the typhoon hit. Booked a last min flight out to Hanoi on Bamboo scheduled on an A320 for $60. Show up at the airport and it was a 787. Not sure if Bamboo flew this in especially to help people escape but if so, props to them for doing so instead of just upcharging hundreds for the far fewer seats on the A320. Didn’t get to check out the J cabin but the Y cabin was nice!

Ben you know KL is only a couple of hours from Vietnam right? Not sure your point there makes a ton of sense about oneworld having a gap in SE Asia unless you’re specifically speaking to direct US flights? And HK is only about an hour from Hanoi. Would still rather they join oneworld though.

I see STARLUX being the next Asian carrier to join Oneworld over Bamboo

Don’t forget that *A also has EVA

Ben, does the "Amadeus" program give any hints as to which one they may join? I thought most airlines in a particular alliance use similar booking/luggage systems?

P.S. YES to join OneWorld please! I'm an AA/OW Fanatic based in DFW and would love to visit SE Asia soon!

We could take BOTH! Taiwan and Vietnam are different enough markets. I'm a huge proponent of OneWorld growing as fast as possible.

Korea is nowhere near SE Asia.

Superb first question. I was wondering the same about Amadeus connectivity with oneworld airlines.

Oneworld would seem a natural fit.

Vietnam Airlines rules out Skyteam, and Star Alliances’s Thai and Singapore members are big competitors.

Yes, you have MH and CX in the same neighborhood, but their respective strategies and networks are very different.

We’ll see!

I'm gonna upvote OneWorld as well. Malaysian Airlines sure needs competition.

Agreed. They've got 2 in the US market, don't see why they couldn't do 2 in SE Asia. (Even though Taiwan isn't considered SE Asia, the weather sure feels like it.)

Personally, I want Bamboo to join Star Alliance so that Oneworld can have Starlux and/or Philippine Airlines.

With tourism still picking up and schedules not fully back to pre-Covid traffic, both Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways have been using longhaul aircraft for domestic flights since Vietnam reopened to tourism.

I would say CX would see Starlux more as a threat than Bamboo!

Not sure how this would factor into an Alliance decision but I don't even consider MH when looking at flights for OneWorld. They have way too many fares that earn zero miles, to upfare to one that does is a huge jump. I'd certainly welcome a OW competitor in SE Asia.

Why? VN and DL have been partners for 12 years, and DL's predecessor NW flew its own metal into SGN near the time of the merger. UA also flew there via HKG for years, but pulled out in 2016.

Both have the numbers, yet have shown zero interest in operating to that market, even during some of the strongest operational years in their history.

Heck, both DL and UA also pulled out of Thailand not far apart, and it's much more likely that they'd return there, before attempting Vietnam nonstop.... yet still haven't.

Philippine Airlines seems to have more to offer to an alliance, and that's not saying much as most if not all of their international destinations are pretty much covered.

Fair enough, although again it was definitely scheduled on an a320 (and even showed this on flight aware before and after the flight).

If MNL didn't work, there's less chance of Vietnam working.

They also have half their fleet parked at KUL. Air Asia kicked their butts & it shows.

Yes, Oneworld is logical for Bamboo although I also hope Bambooo will Star Alliance