Bamboo Airways blames 'objective reasons' for late tax payments

Private carrier Bamboo Airways’ delayed tax payments to the south-central province of Binh Dinh, where it is headquartered, is only due to "objective circumstances in the short term", said a carrier representative.

Over the past few years, Bamboo Airways has maintained stable flights to Binh Dinh to promote air transport and regional connectivity, opening up opportunities for trade and tourism development, he said.

“Bamboo Airways is making efforts to fulfill its tax obligations to the province as soon as possible," the rep added.

Previously, the Tax Department of Binh Dinh province issued an administrative decision regarding Bamboo Airways' late tax payment.

Bamboo Airways failed to pay taxes totaling VND102.5 billion ($4.2 million) within 90 days of the due date, said Nguyen Dau, director of the department.

Therefore, the department on Wednesday conducted coercive measures to collect the tax arrears by extracting money from the firm’s bank accounts and freezing the accounts, he stated, adding that the accounts are held with BIDV, MBBank and Techcombank.

To restructure toward stable and effective operations, Bamboo Airways on October 23 appointed aviation veteran Luong Hoai Nam as its new CEO, the third in five months and the fourth in more than a year.

Nam, 60, has over three decades working in the aviation and tourism industries, taking on senior positions at national carrier Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific Airlines, Hai Au Aviation, Viet Star Airlines, and real estate group Nam Long, among others.

Nam’s appointment was decided by new investors in Bamboo Airways, marking the latest move in its overall restructuring process, the airline said in a statement.

Backed by real estate developer FLC Group, Bamboo Airways flew its first commercial flight in January 2019 and quickly gained a large share of the local aviation market.

However, hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and then the arrest of FLC chairman Trinh Van Quyet, the mastermind of Bamboo Airways, in March 2022, the carrier underwent ups and downs.

Recently, the airline decided to halt a series of international routes to South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Australia and Germany from October 29 in its latest effort to stay afloat.