Cover Story
Singular vision
February 1st 2025
Madam Nguyen thi Phuong Thao, 54, launched Vietjet in 2011 and took it private in February 2017. Read More » Investments include the HD Bank and real estate, including hotels and beach resorts.
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In a Harvard Business School interview she revealed she had to navigate legal, regulatory and even social challenges to build Vietjet into a successful airline business. After finally receiving the first private license in Vietnam’s aviation industry, she had to build a consumer base in a country where most people had never travelled by air. “Before we joined the industry only one percent of the Vietnamese population had access to air travel. It was perceived as expensive and only for the rich,” she said.
From the beginning she envisioned Vietjet not only as a domestic airline, but one that would be fully integrated in the international aviation industry. She continually pushed for regulatory change at state-owned and government agencies to improve operating standards in Vietnam. The results have not only benefitted Vietjet, but have had a broader impact of attracting more foreign investors to the Vietnamese aviation industry.
In April 2023, Madam Thao took on the role of the LCC Group’s chair. She was succeeded as CEO by managing director and long-time colleague, Dinh Viet Phuong. In a message to shareholders he said Vietjet had a firm determination to implement a strategy of transforming Vietjet into a multinational airline group, “reaching aircraft displaying the colour of the Vietnamese national flag to all five continents and providing opportunities for hundreds of millions of passengers to fly. We continue to innovate, upgrade our products, develop new routes and accelerate digital transformation to achieve high and sustainable growth,” he said. Vietjet is a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and has been awarded IATA’s Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certificate.
