Vietnam’s Pacific Airlines has suspended flights and returned most of its leased aircraft to lessors to facilitate a planned restructuring and debt write-down due to failure to meet lease commitments.
The airline was leasing eight A320-200s but only one was active when services were suspended, with aircraft returned in exchange for lessors wiping debts of around USD220 million. Five of the aircraft came from Aviation Capital Group, two from Wings Capital Partners, and one from CALC.
The airline began operations in 1991 as a cargo carrier, rebranded as Jetstar Pacific in 2007 when Qantas Group acquired a stake, and later renamed back to Pacific Airlines in 2020 after Qantas handed over its stake to Vietnam Airlines.
Pacific Airlines had consistently incurred losses, recording a significant pre-tax loss in 2022 with accumulated losses totalling VND10.7 trillion (USD431.6 million) as of December 2022, prompting a restructuring plan submission to the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam to resume operations.
