Within three years, at the age of
21, she had made her first million and
moved on to trading in bigger things
such as steel, machinery, fertiliser and
other commodities.
Back in Vietnam Thao used her
money to invest in Techcombank, also
known as Vietnam Technological and
Commercial Joint-Stock Bank, and a
second lender, Vietnam International
Commercial Joint Stock Bank. In a
Vietnam still communist-ruled but
rapidly adopting a market economy
and capitalist ways, her timing was
perfect.
In 2017 Thao became Vietnam’s
first female billionaire and VietJet,
the airline she founded in 2011, has
fast become a major player in regional
markets.
With a publicly-avowed aim of
making it “the Emirates of Asia”, her
record suggests that is a real possibility.
Just a week after listing on the Ho Chi
Minh City stock exchange in March
2017, VietJet’s market capitalisation
overtook that of national flag carrier
Vietnam Airlines (VNA). On its first
trading day, VietJet was valued at
US$1.4 billion and its rival, which
listed in January, at US$2.1 billion.
A week later, VietJet was valued
at US$1.8 billion, ahead of VNA’s
US$1.7 billion. Controlling 40 per
cent of Vietnam’s domestic traffic at
the time, it is now understood to have
taken the lead, pushing past VNA.
Along the way, Thao’s tactics,
aimed at attracting increasing
numbers of young Vietnamese and
those in a fast-emerging middle class,
have been unorthodox and sometimes
controversial. VietJet made headlines
and sparked a furore when it launched
flights with young female cabin crew
dressed only in bikinis. It was an
extremely un-communist approach
but it worked, with passenger
numbers quickly soaring.
Now known as “The Bikini Airline”
in Vietnam, Thao is unrepentant.
She says they – the bikini-clad flight
attendants – are empowering images
in Vietnam’s conservative culture.
“You (the cabin crew) have the right
to wear anything you like, either the
bikini or the traditional ao dai,” she
said, referring to the traditional long
tunic worn over loose pants.
“We don’t mind people associating
the airline with the bikini image. If
that makes people happy, then we are
happy.”Her ambitions aren’t limited
to Asia. In October, she disclosed
VietJet plans to expand its fleet, now
45-strong with Airbus A320s and
A321s, with 31 A321neos, 19 A321s
and 100 Boeing 737 MAXs still to be
delivered, to include widebody jets
that will enable it to fly to the US
West Coast by late 2019 or early 2020.
Thao says the first flights could link
the South-east Asian nation with San
Jose, located near a large Vietnamese
community, and would also be close
enough to serve San Francisco.
“We aim to expand international
flights in the next few years. We want
to make international flights 60
per cent of our total flights. We are
studying the possibility of using wide-
body planes for long-haul flights when
market conditions are favorable.”
Australia is also on her radar.
In all the VietJet fleet is expected to
reach 100 aircraft in 2021.
Making money doesn’t appear to
have been a problem for VietJet. It
was into profit in its second year of
operations and the black ink keeps
flowing. In the first half of 2017 it
generated US$84.7 million in profits
before tax, 44.7 per cent up on the
same period a year earlier. Overall
revenue for the six months was
US$730.7 million, an increase of
around 31 per cent compared to the
previous period. Passenger numbers
on international routes increased by
130 per cent and it operates to 73
domestic and international routes, an
increase of 13 routes compared to the
end of December 2016, a 37.7 per cent
increase year on year. VietJet is now
carrying around 17 million passengers
annually.
In 2017 the airline also broke
ground on the construction of VietjetVietJet
Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao is
Vietnam’s first female billionaire.‘We don’t
mind people
associating
the airline
with the
bikini image.’
NGUYEN THI PHOUNG THAOThai VietJet operates three
A320s.ROB FINLAYSON