Bamboo Airways (QH, Hanoi Noi Bai International) is working on a plan to list on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) on the Hanoi Stock Exchange from the first quarter of 2022 while also preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States in 2022, its deputy chief executive Nguyễn Khắc Hải confirmed in a statement posted on its website on the evening of November 19.

The expected listing price for the ticker code BAV "will not be lower" than VND60,000 dong (USD2.64), he said.

The statement follows reports in April that the airline's billionaire chairman and owner, Trịnh Văn Quyết, had been considering an IPO in the United States in the third quarter of this year in an effort to raise up to USD200 million.

UPCoM is a mezzanine exchange that encourages unlisted firms to list with the option of later transferring onto the main market. According to the business intelligence firm Oxford Business Group, investors using it are protected by a legal and regulatory framework and the exchange has high standards of transparency and data accessibility.

According to Nguyễn, the airline is "rushing to prepare and complete in parallel a dossier to offer BAV shares on the New York Stock Exchange in 2022." He reiterated the target of raising USD200 million through the issuance of 5-7% of shares in New York, "thereby increasing its market capitalisation to USD4 billion."

"The offering of BAV shares in the US is part of our efforts to expand our service network globally," Trịnh added in the same statement.

Bamboo Airways also pledged to launch scheduled services to San Francisco from Ho Chi Minh City by the end of 2021, with 5x weekly frequencies initially, progressing to daily in early 2022. It has been operating charter flights to the United States since the end of September and is eyeing scheduled flights to Los Angeles International.

In addition, the Vietnamese carrier is also plotting flights by the end of this year from both Hanoi Noi Bai International and Ho Chi Minh City to London Heathrow, a total 6x weekly, rising to daily in 2022.

According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Bamboo Airways currently operates a fleet of 30 leased aircraft, including three B787-9s. It has an additional eleven -9s to be delivered.