Vietjet has affirmed that it will seek leave to appeal the UK court’s initial ruling concerning a commercial aircraft dispute. The airline remains confident in the UK court system, believing that justice will prevail and that the final decision, expected in 2025, will be fair. 

The airline’s lawyers have identified several misinterpretations in the court’s initial reflections regarding critical and material events and facts of the case. They believe the truth will emerge in due course. Vietjet disagrees with the banks’ sudden and invalid termination of stable, long-term lease-purchase contracts during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, the airline was committed to evacuating hundreds of thousands of people from epidemic centers and donating millions of medical masks to people in the UK, France, Germany, the US, and other countries facing severe shortages. Additionally, Vietjet’s employees were involved in free testing and vaccination support, providing essential supplies and medical equipment to millions. 

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Ho Chi Minh City reported 16,000 deaths, the banks abruptly and invalidly terminated the long-term lease-purchase contracts and sold the loans to FW Aviation (Holdings) 1 Limited (FWA), citing a single payment delay of approximately $7.4 million, for which Vietjet had arranged a deferral. The banks exhibited signs of dishonesty by colluding with debt buyers, who are also former bankers, and selling Vietjet’s debt to an unqualified lender/financing investor without transparent auctions, affecting the airline's rights. 

Vietjet’s lawyers also reject all allegations from FWA, attributing any misconduct or impropriety is attributable to FWA based on the facts of the matter. This conduct extends to serial errors and deliberately misleading information supplied by FWA in contravention of local law and regulations in Vietnam regarding the export of aircraft, and then disingenuously seeking to attribute the blame to Vietnamese institutions and Vietjet for FWA’s own manifest failures. 

Regarding the operation of the four aircraft in 2022, which had been grounded due to the pandemic curfew in Vietnam, Vietjet performed flights to meet urgent travel needs post-pandemic. The airline asserts that continuously grounding these aircraft post-pandemic was a waste of resources, as it had maintained them in good condition at its own expense. Vietjet has consistently demonstrated good faith in its business negotiations with FWA, having the financial capability and repeatedly proposing either to continue paying for the lease or to purchase the aircraft, particularly to meet passenger needs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. However, FWA never cooperated. 

Vietjet’s lawyers continuously and consistently reject all accusations stemming from FWA’s actions, including claims of obstructing aircraft ownership or export. FWA’s profiteering actions, taken during the global battle against the pandemic, violated the principles of good faith and standard commercial practices in the aircraft financing industry. 

As Vietnam’s first privately-owned airline, Vietjet has enabled millions of people to fly for the first time. Commercial disputes are common in the global business environment, and the current dispute does not impact the airline’s operations. The airline has achieved outstanding business performance post-pandemic, continuing to contribute significantly to global travel recovery. Vietjet believes it deserves a fair ruling, and that justice will prevail in the upcoming trial proceedings.