Vietnam’s Bikini Airline VietJet Air – Where The Stewardesses Slip Into Bikinis To Keep Profits From Slipping Too!

1 Sometimes Vietnamese Airline Company

VietJet Air was the first privately owned new-age airline to be established in Vietnam and they organized an in-flight bikini show to celebrate its maiden flight to the tourist hub of Nha Trang. They were fined by the Vietnam aviation authority for $960 for doing this without gaining permission. But the company doesn’t really care as this trick makes their airline very popular and profitable.

These ‘bikini performances’ are not a standard practice on all flights – they’re more like a featured bonus on certain routes. One of the earliest shows was staged on a 2012 flight from Ho Chi Minh City to the coastal city of Nha Trang. As reported by ABC News, “Clad in vaporous string bikini tops and sarongs that flaunted the company colors of red and yellow, young, beautiful women filed down the plane’s aisles for a bikini show.”

According to Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Vietnamese businesswoman and the brains behind VietJet, the bikini-clad models on flights are meant to represent empowerment amidst the nation’s conservative culture. “You have the right to wear anything you like, either the bikini or the traditional ao dai,” she said, speaking to Bloomberg Pursuits. The ao dai consists of a long tunic, worn over loose pants. “We don’t mind people associating the airline with the bikini image,” she added. “If that makes people happy, then we are happy.”

From a business standpoint, the bikini image seems to have paid off for Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, as VietJet is all set to surpass national carrier Vietnam Airlines as the nation’s biggest domestic carrier this year. As for the ambitious CEO herself, after the company holds its IPO sometime in the next three months, she will become Vietnam’s first woman billionaire.

Airlines in countries like Thailand, Mexico and even the UK have used annual calendars featuring bikini-clad flight attendants to promote their business, no other has been as bold as to adopt the skimpy attire during actual flights. That makes VietJet unique.