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Meet Southeast Asia’s Only Woman Billionaire, Founder of Vietnam's Budget Airline

Meet Southeast Asia’s Only Woman Billionaire, Founder of Vietnam's Budget Airline
Aviation International News | Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao

The CEO of Vietnam’s first private low-cost ariline VietJet Air, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, is the only female USD billionaire in Southeast Asia after VietJet launches its initial public offering (IPO) in February 2017. It was recorded as Vietnam’s largest IPO.

Nguyen brought Vietnam’s only private low-cost carrier to rapid development in less than 5 years. Today, VietJet operates more than 40% of the country’s flights. Its passenger number may surpass that of the national airlines Vietnam Airlines.

Nguyen, appeared on the list with estimated net worth of $1.2 billion in revenues. FORBES currently pegs her fortune at $1.7 billion. She is one of 56 women on this year’s FORBES World’s Billionaires list who built their own ten-figure fortunes; more than half of them hail from Asia.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao. Image: HR in Asia
Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao. Image: HR in Asia

 

Nguyen was educated in Soviet Russia in the 1980, where she studied economics and finance. After starting trading commodities in Eastern Europe and Asia, she returned to Vietnam a decade ago and began investing in banks before turning to real estate projects in Ho Chi Minh City and resorts in Central Vietnam.

Nguyen got the idea to launch a low-cost airline while she was a trader, when she predicted that demand for air travel in Vietnam would increase.

"I spent 10 years researching the field of aviation, met with the CEOs of the low-cost airlines such as Jetstar, Air Asia, and Southwest Airlines," she said. She entered the market that was occupied by only one firm –Vietnam Airlines.

VietJet Air. Image: Asia 361
VietJet Air. Image: Asia 361

 

“I have always aimed big and done big deals,” Nguyen told FORBES Vietnam.

VietJet Air quickly became popular with the team of young stewardesses and the daring image-building strategy. Its flight attendants wore swimwear on maiden flights to coastal destinations.

Then, she and her partners applied to set up the first private airline in Vietnam, entering the market that was occupied by only one firm - Vietnam Airlines.

Early on, VietJet Air quickly became popular with the team of young stewardesses and the daring image-building strategy. Its flight attendants wore swimwear on maiden flights to coastal destinations.

The airline now offers 300 flights a day, including 63 local routes and dozens of international ones, and operates 45 jets. The company recently ordered more than 200 aircraft worth nearly $23 billion from Airbus and Boeing.

VietJet Aviation Announces Order for 100 737 MAX 200 Airplanes. Image: Boeing.com
VietJet Aviation Announces Order for 100 737 MAX 200 Airplanes. Image: Boeing.com

 

She aims to turn Vietjet into "Asia's Emirates”, which has 150 destinations and offer flights with the longest traveling time in the world.

Nguyen said to Vietnam Net Bridge, "They have a global vision. Emirates is an airline of a small country, but it wants to dominate the world," she said.

Nguyen acknowledged that dominating the global market means shifting from the model of low-cost airline, but she believes that she can be successful without losing the core customers who are very sensitive to prices of Vietjet.

"We can both enhance cost efficiency, while providing high-quality services," Thao said. "Vietjet is confident that our service quality is not inferior to the other airlines in the world."

 

Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
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