Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways, Israel Aerospace Industries sign $36 mln aircraft engines deal

Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways and Israel Aerospace Industries have signed a $36-million contract for aircraft engine maintenance and lease, the Vietnamese airline announced Wednesday.

Israel Aerospace Industries, a global leader in aviation and defense, will provide maintenance services for six CFM56-5B engines of Bamboo Airways’ Boeing A321 aircraft in 2024-2025.

The Israeli firm will also lease out one CFM56-5B engine to Bamboo Airways for two years.

Speaking at the contract signing ceremony, Bamboo Airways CEO Luong Hoai Nam said the top-quality maintenance-repair-operation (MRO) service provided by the Israeli firm would improve the airline’s service quality.

He said the move was part of Bamboo Airways’ strategy to develop as a single-type fleet, featuring only Airbus narrow-body A320/A321 aircraft.

In the first half of 2024, Bamboo Airways leased three more Airbus A320 planes, increasing its fleet to eight. It plans to enlarge the fleet to 12 by end 2024 and 18 by end 2025.

Ido Ben Cnaan, vice president and general manager, MRO division, Israel Aerospace Industries, said the contract was a milestone of the Israeli firm in the Asian market.

Bamboo Airways is the third-largest airline in Vietnam, in terms of flights. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), Vietnamese airlines conducted 107,068 flights in the first five months of this year.

Bamboo Airways came in the third position with 7,944 flights, behind national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (45,151) and budget airlines VietJet Air (45,829).