The Prime Minister of Vietnam, in Australia for the Australia-ASEAN Special Summit has encouraged Australian Airlines to fly to Vietnam, VN Express is reporting. Furthermore, he urged investment funds and banks to invest ‘indirectly’ in Vietnamese airlines.

Foreign ownership of airlines in Vietnam is capped at 34 percent and therefore no foreign investor can have a controlling interest. With this in mind, it’s also worth noting that Vietnam’s airlines are not in great shape. Bamboo Airways has repeatedly downsized its operations over the last two years and Vietnam Airlines is negative equity and fulfils the criteria for being delisted from the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.

For some historical reference too, Australia’s biggest airline, Qantas, had a partnership with Vietnam Airlines for 13 years in budget carrier Jetstar Pacific. Jetstar Pacific, however, failed to take-off and when the pandemic hit Qantas made the decision to exit the market more-or-less giving up its share in the airline.

Paragraph below from local media at the time really says it all.

“Qantas holds 30 percent of Jetstar Pacific’s shares and is a private company, Vietnam Airlines holds the majority of shares of Jetstar Pacific and is a state-owned enterprise. Therefore, the viewpoints on how to work are different and have not created a breakthrough for Jetstar Pacific.”