‘Bikini airline’ tycoon faces multi-million pound fine after losing High Court case

A “bikini airline” tycoon once courted by an Oxford college for donations is in line for a multi-million pound bill after losing a High Court case.

The conduct of Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao’s firm, VietJet, was branded “egregious” by a High Court judge after it failed to return four aircrafts it had failed to pay rent on.

Last month, the High Court in London ruled against VietJet – known as the “bikini airline” after its adverts featuring scantily-clad flight attendants – with the judge finding that the company was in breach of its contract.

The firm had leased four planes but fell into arrears following its failure to make a series of rental payments in 2021.

VietJet “conducted and orchestrated a campaign” in an attempt to avoid handing the leased aircrafts back to their owners, according to the High Court judgment that noted that the “misconduct” employed by the company was “egregious”.

Papers lodged with the High Court in December 2022 revealed that VietJet was being sued for £155 million plus interest accruing at a rate of at least £31,000 a day. 

‘Cash flow problems’

Ms Thao’s company is also subject to several court orders in connection with the long-running case, which carry penal notices stating that failure to comply may result in the company being held in contempt of court, which could result in imprisonment, asset seizures or fines.

VietJet admitted that it fell into arrears with rental payments but blamed this on “cash flow problems” owing to the pandemic and Vietnam’s national lockdown, which meant it had to suspend operations, according to its defence.

However, it has denied that it was in breach of the lease agreement, and denied that it owed “any of the relief claimed”.

Ms Thao previously made headlines when, in 2021, Linacre College announced that in exchange for a “landmark gift” of £155 million from Sovico Group, it would change its name to Thao College.

The group is the parent company of VietJet, which Ms Thao launched in 2007 as the first privately run low-cost airline in Vietnam.

A decade later, she took the company public and in doing so became south-east Asia’s only female billionaire.