AIRLINE - Pacific Airlines ceases operations

Newspaper VN Express is reporting that Pacific Airlines has suspended all operations due to financial difficulties. According to the Vietnamese news outlet, the airline hasn't been able to pay its leases and has its fleet repossessed by lessors.

Pacific Airlines is 98% owned by Vietnam Airlines and is acting as the airline's low-cost subsidiary. Pacific Airlines is plotting a restructuring in which it plans to lease three aircraft from its mother. Three aircraft is also the minimum aircraft that an airline needs to have in Vietnam in order to be able to operate.

In total, Pacific's fleet consisted of five Airbus A320s, of which four are now parked at Ho Chi Minh City and one in Hanoi.

Pacific Airlines was founded in 1991. In 2007, 30% of the shares were sold to Qantas and the airline operated as Jetstar Pacific. In 2020, Qantas sold back the shares to Vietnam Airlines and the airline rebranded again into Pacific Airlines.