Despite being negative equity alongside three years of losses, Vietnam Airlines may be able to remain listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange if amendments to Decree 155/2020/ND-CP are approved, according to Vietnam Stock Economic Magazine. The changes on the table include an additional clause to Article 120 of the Decree that would see a provision for ‘special cases’, determined by the government, to remain listed.

Whereas there has been a lot of talk about Vietnam Airlines being delisted, on a practical level it doesn’t seem there would be any really big implications of removing the stock from the HoSE. It feels like the drive to keep the company listed is more for psychological reasons, with the airline Vietnam’s national carrier, and perhaps a symbol of its economic progress over the last two decades or so.

A delisting in these circumstances, however, may be the impetus stakeholders need to make real, substantial changes to the airline and the industry more broadly.