タグ: Corona virus

Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways Set To Make A Name For Itself–But not just yet.

It is very interesting to see the ongoing evolution of air travel from the days of the grand and luxurious Pan American Airways to the Low Cost Carriers (LCC) of today. And while it might seem that there is not much room to carve out a niche in the airline industry, there is evidence to the contrary. Recently RG21 took a look at Air Astana, the national airline of Kazakhstan, a newcomer that has gotten generally positive reviews all around. Another new player with its cheerful green, white, and blue livery worth keeping an eye on is Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways. Their corporate motto is “More than just a flight.” With their user-friendly online presence and new equipment, they just might make the user’s travel experience live up to this ideal.

Bamboo Airways, which is headquartered in Hanoi, started operations January 2019 with an Airbus A320 as its first equipment. They have 15 domestic destinations including their hubs in Hanoi and Ho Chi Mihn City. Bamboo Airways flies Airbus and Boeing equipment. Airbus models include A319-100, A 320-200, A320neo and A321-200 and A321neo. They also fly the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

Besides its domestic routes, Bamboo Airways has an ambitious menu of international destinations including:

  • Czech Republic
  • Macau
  • Japan
  • South Korea
  • Taiwan

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner equipment was specifically acquired for long-haul routes like Hanoi-Prague. Flights were scheduled to start in March 2020, but with the coming of the Corona epidemic. European and other international destination schedules have been modified or cut back. The Hanoi-Prague flight has been pushed back to late spring and there has been no announcement of international flights scheduled to begin in June 2020.

It is truly unfortunate that the timing for this new member of the airlines community has come at the peak of the Corona epidemic. When the “all clear” has been sounded, Bamboo Airways will be in an excellent position to take advantage of the pent-up demand  for domestic and international flights and the travel boom that will surely follow. Let us hope that this is much sooner than later. (When do you think travel will “normalize” again? Please let us know your thoughts on this.)

Photo: Courtesy Bamboo Airways

 

Washington Cherry Blossom Festival Cancelled–Trees Bloom Anyway.

It is March 2020 and the cherry trees are in bloom in Washington D.C. Unfortunately the National Cherry Blossom Festival scheduled from March20–April12 has had its events either cancelled or postponed. The National Cherry Blossom Festival is an annual event first held in 1934, which often draws up to 700,000 visitors.

Cherry trees were first sent by Japan to the United States by the city of Tokyo in 1912. The movement to have cherry trees in the nation’s capital was started in 1885 by Eliza Scidmore, a travel writer and first female board member of the National Geographic Society. Scidmore had seen cherry trees in Japan and had fallen in love with them and wanted to see them adorn Washington D.C.

This year, visitors had to be heartily discouraged from viewing the blossoms to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Even still, many people attempted to view the blossoms. Washington’s cherry trees are of various varieties, but about 70% of them are Some-Yoshino, a hybrid cherry that produces a pale-pink flower much loved by the Japanese of today. Let us hope that in 2021 when the world has returned to “normal” that the cherry blossoms will be able to be enjoyed by many, many people in Washington.

Photo: Courtesy Joe Flood via flickr