VietJet Air places major A320 order. Is there room for another pan-Asia low-cost airline group?

Vietnam's VietJet Air has become the latest Asian low-cost carrier group to announce a major aircraft order in support of an ambition to build a portfolio of LCC affiliates.

VietJet's commitment to buy 62 A320 family aircraft may be small in comparison to the massive orders placed by AirAsia and Lion in recent years. But it is significant in that it shows VietJet is serious in becoming a pan-Asia player, following the model of AirAsia, Jetstar, Lion and Tigerair.

AirAsia, Lion, Tigerair and Jetstar operate across Asia-Pacific and dominate the Southeast Asian LCC market, accounting for about 77% of LCC seat capacity and 75% of the ASEAN-based LCC fleet. While Southeast Asia is a large and fast-growing market, five is a potentially unsustainable number of LCC groups, particularly when taking into account some of the countries also have very strong independent LCCs.