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Vietnam's Bikini-Clad Carrier Seeks IPO to Be `Emirates of Asia'
- Budget airline VietJet expected to overtake national carrier
- Carrier expects 61 percent passenger growth this year
An employee walks under a Vietjet aircraft at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi.
Photographer: Brent Lewin/BloombergVietJet Aviation Joint Stock Co., the Vietnamese carrier known for its bikini-clad flight attendants, may hold its initial public offering as early as the second quarter as it plans to build global routes and become a top budget airline in Asia.
The IPO’s exact timing will depend on market developments domestically and globally, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, chief executive officer of Vietnam’s only privately-owned airline, said in an interview on Friday. The company hasn’t finalized how much it wants to raise and could offer as much as a 30 percent stake, the regulatory limit for foreign holdings, she said.