An Airline With No Planes Just Bought 20 Boeing Dreamliners
Boeing announced Monday a new order for 20 787-9 Dreamliners, in a deal that would be worth $5.6 billion at current list prices. The customer? An airline you've probably never heard of — Bamboo Airways.
Bamboo Airways is a Vietnamese startup airline that plans to begin commercial operations in 2019 out of Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport (HAN). It's wholly-owned by the FLC Group, a conglomerate, focusing on aviation, real estate, resorts, farming, and golf. Yes, you read that right: commercial aviation and farming both being offered by the same company. The airline currently has zero planes in its fleet, but it does have a memorandum of understanding with Airbus for up to 24 A321neo aircraft so it's an ambitious airline for sure.
The 787-9 has a range of over 8,700 miles and is the same type of aircraft which Qantas uses to operate the world's second-longest flight — between Perth (PER) and London Heathrow (LHR) — indicating that the airline has major growth plans. "Our long-term vision is to connect Vietnam to key markets within Asia, Europe and North America and the capabilities of these new state-of-the-art Dreamliners will help us achieve our goals," said FLC chairman Trinh Van Quyet, in a statement emailed by Boeing.
Bamboo Airways has completed the deposit requirement to reserve the 20 aircraft and expects to take delivery of them from April 2020 through 2021. However, Flight Global reports that the airline is working with Boeing to take delivery of the aircraft earlier so that it could begin international service in 2019.
This order comes amidst a major growth of low-cost carriers in Asia, such as Air Asia X. However, the newcomer airline plans to run a "hybrid" business model, offering passengers low fares while maintaining services you'd expect from a full-service carrier — somewhat similar to JetBlue.
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Rewards Rate
| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
Intro Offer
Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
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Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month