Bamboo Airways plans to open direct flights to Italy from 2022

Illustrative image. (Photo courtesy of Bamboo Airways)

Hanoi (VNA) - Bamboo Airways plans to promote operations in Italy, and South, Central and Northern Europe markets from the first quarter of next year, aiming to launch a supplementary market for direct flights connecting Vietnam with Germany and the UK, as well as deploying a regular direct flight between Vietnam and Italy from the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 in line with market conditions.

The information was disclosed by Chairman of FLC Group and Bamboo Airways Trinh Van Quyet during a working session with a delegation led by Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Antonio Alessandro to the group's headquarters in Hanoi on December 6.

According to Ambassador Alessandro, the FLC Group and its Bamboo Airways are focusing on resort real estate, aviation and entertainment – the fields that Italian enterprises are interested in. He said the Consul General of Italy is ready to play the role as a bridge in potential fields that FLC and Bamboo Airways wish to cooperate with the Italian businesses in the future.

The Italian Ambassador to Vietnam expressed his hope that a direct route between Vietnam and Italy would soon be established to expand bilateral trade opportunities between the two sides.

At the event. (Photo courtesy of Bamboo Airways)

Talking more about the plan to set up a direct route connecting Vietnam and Italy, Quyet said that the carrier would actively carry out preparations including opening a representative office in Italy and selecting an agent in the Italian market. Besides, Bamboo Airways also strives to negotiate and collaborate with Italian partners to expand domestic flight networks in Italy and Europe, in the form of codesharing.

He said the first Vietnam-Italy direct commercial route does not only brings an opportunity for Bamboo Airways to expand the connection between Vietnam and the large European market but is also expected to contribute to further development in multilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Quyet also expressed his wish to continue to receive strong support from the Italian Embassy in Vietnam, as well as the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy in completing related procedures.

Currently, Italy is the fourth largest trading partner of Vietnam in the European Union (EU). Despite facing difficulties due to the pandemic, bilateral trade turnover reached 2.29 billion USD in the first six months of this year, up 29.3 percent over the same period last year.

Regarding tourism and people-to-people exchanges, Vietnam welcomed nearly 71,000 visitors from Italy to Vietnam in 2019. By the end of November last year, Italy ranked 35th out of 141 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with 130 valid investment projects and a total registered capital of nearly 400 million USD./.

VNA