Vietnam’s VietJet Air is facing a major operational and financial crisis after a UK court imposed a global asset freeze linked to unpaid aircraft lease obligations. The ruling follows a legal dispute with UK-based FW Aviation (Holdings) Limited, which successfully claimed VietJet owed US$181 million in outstanding payments for leased Airbus aircraft.
VietJet had announced earlier this year that it would commence flights from Auckland to Ho Chi Minh City in 2025.
The judgment grants FW Aviation the right to terminate the leases and restricts VietJet’s ability to manage or move key assets, including aircraft until the debt is settled. The freeze is already affecting day-to-day operations, with widespread flight cancellations and disruptions reported across Southeast Asia, particularly in Thailand, Cambodia, and Singapore.
The fallout threatens VietJet’s future growth, placing its new aircraft deliveries at risk and casting doubt on its ambitious regional expansion strategy. The airline, once seen as a rising low-cost challenger in the saturated low-cast Asian market now faces mounting scrutiny from investors, lessors, and regulators.
The case is likely to prompt a reassessment of financial risk management in the low-cost carrier sector, especially at a time when the aviation industry is still stabilising post-pandemic. VietJet has signalled it is considering legal avenues to overturn the ruling or reach a negotiated settlement, but the global nature of the freeze adds layers of complexity.