Vietnam start-up Bamboo Airways completes first commercial flight

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's Bamboo Airways completed its long-delayed maiden commercial flight on Wednesday, heightening competition in the aviation sector of the Southeast Asian nation that is emerging as a popular tourist destination.

The inaugural flight of the airline, owned by property and leisure firm FLC Group, landed at Hanoi's Noi Bai Intl airport at 0830 local time after taking off from Ho Chi Minh City, Bamboo Airways said in a statement. It carried 180 passengers and five crew members.

The start-up airline secured an Air Operator Certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam earlier this month, allowing it to start services after having postponed its launch date twice.

Bamboo Airways becomes the fifth Vietnamese airline, at a time aviation competition in the country is heating up while its aviation infrastructure is getting overloaded. Other domestic airlines are Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific Airlines, Vietjet Aviation and Vietnam Air Services Co.

(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)