Vietnam Airlines becomes an airport investor

More than 50 airlines are known to have, at one time or another, declared an interest in operating airports or occasionally just investing in them. Of them, 21 are in Asia, and some are actually doing it; for example Japan Airlines, ANA and Bangkok Airways.

Vietnam Airlines has been another of those airlines, along with the country's second carrier, the LCC VietJet. Now Vietnam Airlines is to invest in the new and expensive airport to serve Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam, and whose existing airport is capacity constrained (although also being expanded).

Since a deal with Groupe ADP fell through in 2017, the necessary private capital and operational expertise to underwrite the explosion of air travel demand in Vietnam has been absent.

These two airlines can go some way to filling that void, but whether they can provide the operational expertise is another matter, and so foreign airport operators should not write off Vietnam as a lost cause yet.