Vietnam wants it both ways: holding back airline liberalisation as ASEAN open skies stumbles

The Vietnamese government, torn between on the one side encouraging airline and tourism growth and, on the other, retaining nationalist principles, has now apparently forced the delay of AirAsia/VietJet's JV startup for several months. The carrier is now apparently going to have to find a name that does not include the intruder, AirAsia. Airline liberalisation in Asia Pacific is moving ahead, at both bilateral and multilateral levels, but there are occasional hiccups, as is to be expected across such a wide array of geographies, political systems and economic and aviation development, as this report from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation reviews.