HCMC – Bamboo Airways admitted it has encountered heavy financial losses after over one year in the local aviation market. The local carrier is still slow at making payments despite being reminded to pay its debts multiple times.
Many creditors including Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM), Saigon Ground Services Company and Hanoi Ground Service JSC from February to early April had sent dozens of notices urging the airline to pay its debts promptly, reported Dan Tri news site.
The creditors also reported the late payment issue to the Ministry of Transport.
Since June last year, the carrier has regularly been late in paying flight-related service fees that it collected on behalf of VATM. The debt that Bamboo Airways currently owes to VATM is VND38.6 billion, though VATM had asked the carrier to pay the debt by the end of March, noted a VATM representative.
Similarly, ACV has sent 24 notices since May last year to urge the aviation subsidiary of FLC Group to pay a total debt of over VND205 billion, with overdue debt reaching some VND178 billion, but Bamboo Airways has been sluggish with payments.
Of the overdue debt, fees for security screening and services supplied by ACV to passengers exceeded VND107 billion. The remaining VND71 billion was the cost of ground and airport services provided to the carrier by ACV, according to an ACV official.
Following the Transport Ministry’s order, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam recently asked Bamboo Airways to quickly report its debts, its payment plan for aviation service providers and its financial situation.
A Transport Ministry representative on May 6 told the paper that Bamboo Airways had neither paid the debt nor sent any reports.
