Pacific Airlines Joint Stock Aviation Company (, operating as Pacific Airlines) is a
low-cost airline
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...
headquartered in
Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City
Tan or TAN may refer to:
Businesses and organisations
* Black and Tans, a nickname for British special constables during the Irish War of Independence. By extension "Tans" can now also colloquially refer to English or British people in general, es ...
, Vietnam. With its operating base at
Tan Son Nhat International Airport
Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport ( vi, Sân bay quốc tế Tân Sơn Nhất or Cảng hàng không quốc tế Tân Sơn Nhất) is the busiest airport in Vietnam with 32.5 million passengers in 2016 and 38.5 million passengers in 2018 ...
, Ho Chi Minh City,
it operates scheduled domestic and international services along with charter flights. From 2008 to 2020, it was known as Jetstar Pacific Airlines as part of
Jetstar
Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, operating as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline (self-described as "value-based") headquartered in Melbourne. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by airline Virgi ...
.
The airline began operations in 1991, flying chartered cargo services. From 1996 to 2005, the airline, along with other local companies, operated under the government-owned Vietnam Airlines Corporation. Having by now operated passenger services, Pacific Airlines then came under the control of the government itself. In 2007, the Vietnamese government sold a portion of its shares to
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
, and as such the airline adopted a low-cost operations model and adopted its name (Jetstar Pacific) on 23 May 2008, becoming part of the
Jetstar
Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, operating as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline (self-described as "value-based") headquartered in Melbourne. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by airline Virgi ...
network.
In February 2012,
Vietnam Airlines
Vietnam Airlines ( vi, Hãng Hàng không Quốc gia Việt Nam, lit=Vietnam National Airlines) is the flag carrier of Vietnam. The airline was founded in 1956 and later established as a Government-owned corporation, state-owned enterprise i ...
bought a 70% stake in the company. As part of its expansion plan, it was intended that Jetstar Pacific will have up to 15
Airbus A320
The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus.
The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...
aircraft by the end of 2015
and up to 30 aircraft by 2020. In late 2020, Jetstar sold off its stakes in Jetstar Pacific to
Vietnam Airlines
Vietnam Airlines ( vi, Hãng Hàng không Quốc gia Việt Nam, lit=Vietnam National Airlines) is the flag carrier of Vietnam. The airline was founded in 1956 and later established as a Government-owned corporation, state-owned enterprise i ...
and the carrier returned to its old brand name Pacific Airlines.
History
Early operations
![Pacific Airlines Boeing 737-300 @ THF](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Pacific_Airlines_Boeing_737-300_%40_THF.jpg)
Pacific Airlines was established in December 1990 and began operations in April 1991 with a start-up capital of US$2.47 million. It was the first carrier to be established in Vietnam following reforms that permitted foreign investment in the country's airlines. Pacific Airlines operated
chartered cargo flights to
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, Pakistan and France in cooperation with
AOM French Airlines
AOM French Airlines (previously Air Outre-Mer) was the second-largest airline in France from 1990 until 2001. Its head office was in Building 363 at Orly Airport, Paray-Vieille-Poste.
History
Air Outre Mer (AOM) was founded in 1988 in the Fren ...
.
In 1993, prior to the lifting of the US embargo against Vietnam, the airline signed a deal with
United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. that would have involved the training of Pacific Airlines' personnel and which had provisions for cooperation on US–Vietnam services.
In 1994, the
Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV or simply CAA; vi, Cục Hàng không Việt Nam, lit=Authority of Aviation of Vietnam) is the aviation authority under the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam. It handles and regulates civil aviation i ...
(CAAV) proposed plans to the government about the possible trading of minority stakes of
Vietnam Airlines
Vietnam Airlines ( vi, Hãng Hàng không Quốc gia Việt Nam, lit=Vietnam National Airlines) is the flag carrier of Vietnam. The airline was founded in 1956 and later established as a Government-owned corporation, state-owned enterprise i ...
,
VASCO and Pacific Airlines to investors. With the lifting of the US embargo, the country was looking for funds for aircraft procurements. Such plans did not materialise. However, in 1996, Pacific Airlines was consolidated with several air-service companies, including Vietnam Airlines, to establish Vietnam Airlines Corporation. During the same year, Pacific Airlines
wet-leased a
Boeing 737-300
The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft.
Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...
from Swiss charter carrier
TEA Basel. In addition to its jointly serviced cargo destinations, Pacific had by now opened services to
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
and
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
.
In 2000, Pacific entered into an agreement with Greek charter airline Galaxy Airways whereby the Vietnamese carrier would operate flights to Taipei on its behalf. In 2001, the airline's revenues totalled US$48 million, having made 3,600 flights using an
Airbus A310
The Airbus A310 is a wide-body aircraft, designed and manufactured by Airbus Industrie, then a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers.
Airbus had identified a demand for an aircraft smaller than the A300, the first twin-jet wide-bod ...
and two
A321s. From 2001 to 2004, a succession of regional and global events, namely the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
, the
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
, the
SARS outbreak and a rise in oil prices, as well as misguided management decisions, contributed to a cumulative loss of more than million at the airline.
[ Consequently, Vietnam Airlines Corporation in late 2004 submitted a report about Pacific Airlines to the government, who decreed that all of the carrier's shares belonging to the corporation must be transferred to the ]Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance.
Lists of current ministries of finance
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Finance and Eco ...
(MoF). As a result, the MoF assumed control of 86.49% of shares, with Saigon Tourist (13.06%) and Tradevico (0.45%) making up the rest.
The Ministry in January 2005 announced plans to sell all of its shares to increase the available capital by 20 times One prospective investor was Temasek Holdings
Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, or simply Temasek, is a Singaporean state holding company owned by the Government of Singapore. Incorporated on 25 June 1974, Temasek owns and manages a total of US$496.59 billion (S$671 billion) in assets u ...
, who was looking to inject US$50 million to revive the business, which might have entailed launching passenger flights to Japan, South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
and Thailand.[ Talks with various parties fell through. It was not until January 2007 when rumours circulated about another prospective investor.
]
Jetstar Pacific
Australian airline Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
was in talks with the State Capital Investment Corporation
The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC, ) is a state-owned holding company considered a National Wealth Fund of Vietnam. It was established on 20 June 2005 under the mandate of Prime Minister Phan Văn Khải as part of a range of reform ...
(SCIC), who was then managing the government's stake in Pacific Airlines, about a possible investment in the carrier. Three months later, Qantas agreed to a minority stake in Pacific as part of its plan to expand its low-cost operations through Jetstar
Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, operating as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline (self-described as "value-based") headquartered in Melbourne. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by airline Virgi ...
in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
. The deal was finalised in July when Qantas acquired an 18% stake for US$30 million, with provisions to eventually increase the stake to 30%; SCIC held the majority of the remaining shares. The deal would see the carrier, restructure as a low-cost airline and launch flights to the surrounding countries with a fleet of 30 Airbus A320s by 2014. It was renamed Jetstar Pacific Airlines (JPA, alternatively known as Jetstar Pacific) in May 2008.
JPA began its low-cost flights with service to Nha Trang
Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hòa District, Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh Distri ...
and Da Nang
Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...
. Due to high fuel costs, Nha Trang service was suspended, and the airline lost $22 million in 2008. Passenger service launches to Bangkok and Siem Reap
Siem Reap ( km, សៀមរាប, ) is the second-largest city of Cambodia, as well as the capital and largest city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia.
Siem Reap has French colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old F ...
were deferred, and SCIC stated the airline would need US$35 million to operate in 2009.
Jetstar Pacific embarked on its fleet modernisation plan in 2009, as it replaced several Boeing 737-400s with leased A320s. It made its first profit (US$1.1 million) in July that year after long periods of losses. The airline expanded its domestic market share as it transported more than 1.5 million passengers in the first half of 2009. Despite these developments, the airline encountered branding issues when the CAAV in October decreed that it must replace its Jetstar brand and logo with a new identity; the CAAV cited possible consumer confusion with Jetstar Airways and that a foreign airline could potentially exploit the Jetstar Pacific's branding to advertise it products. Later that year, CEO Luong Hoai Nam suddenly quit the airline having served since 2004.
In January 2010, clarifications about Nam surfaced when Vietnamese authorities reportedly detained the former CEO and prevented COO
COO or coo may refer to:
Business
* Certificate of origin, used in international trade
* Chief operating officer or chief operations officer, high-ranking corporate official
* Concept of operations, used in Systems Engineering Management Process
...
Daniela Masilli and CFO
The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...
Tristan Freeman from leaving the country. This was part of an investigation into fuel hedging
Fuel hedging is a contractual tool some large fuel consuming companies, such as airlines, cruise lines and trucking companies, use to reduce their exposure to volatile and potentially rising fuel costs. A fuel hedge contract is a futures contract ...
losses, which reportedly had cost the airline US$31 million. Qantas responded to the complication by replacing the two administrators. Due to the investigation into fuel-hedging allegations, growth plans at the airline were stalled.
Funding issues persisted through 2011. In addition to the fuel price fluctuations, compounded by the government-sanctioned fare cap, JPA had to address lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...
and maintenance fees for its aircraft. During the year, reports indicated that VAC would re-assume control of the carrier; according to ''Saigon Tiep Thi'', the SCIC would transfer 70% of its shares to Vietnam Airlines. However, the Jetstar Group denied such speculation. On 16 January 2012, the Vietnamese government confirmed the allegations by ''Saigon Tiep Thi'' by decreeing a transfer of SCIC shares to Vietnam Airlines, which took place in February. The transfer brought forward plans by Vietnam Airlines to have its own LCC by 2014. As part of its current expansion plan, it is intended that Jetstar Pacific will have up to 15 Airbus A320s by the end of 2015. The remaining 30% of Jetstar Pacific was held by Qantas Group (most likely for naming rights).
Return as Pacific Airlines
In June 2020, Vietnam Airlines announced that it would takeover all Qantas Group's shares and increase its ownership of Jetstar Pacific to 98%. The airline will no longer be operating under the Jetstar brand, but will revert to its original name Pacific Airlines. The ticketing system will also be migrated from the Qantas-based system used by Jetstar to the Sabre system used by Vietnam Airlines.
Financial issues & restructuring proposal
Approximately one year after the Qantas withdrawal, in June 2021, Vietnam Airlines
Vietnam Airlines ( vi, Hãng Hàng không Quốc gia Việt Nam, lit=Vietnam National Airlines) is the flag carrier of Vietnam. The airline was founded in 1956 and later established as a Government-owned corporation, state-owned enterprise i ...
has declared that the impact
Impact may refer to:
* Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period
* Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US
Science and technology
* Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event
* Impact ...
of Covid-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
has resulted in the financial situation of Pacific Airlines being "extremely serious", posing the possibilities of insolvency
In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet i ...
and termination of operations. The Vietnamese state-owned
State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...
flag carrier
A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations.
Hist ...
is looking for investors in order to restructure Pacific Airlines, however, it was revealed that the investor selection process faced many legal and other obstacles due to the fact that it (both Vietnam Airlines and Pacific Airlines) is a state-owned enterprise
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a Government, government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn Profit (econom ...
, admitting that the situation of Pacific Airlines "would be at risk" if no agreement is reached.
Destinations
As of 2020, Pacific Airlines operates more than 40 daily flights to domestic destinations from its main hub at Tan Son Nhat International Airport
Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport ( vi, Sân bay quốc tế Tân Sơn Nhất or Cảng hàng không quốc tế Tân Sơn Nhất) is the busiest airport in Vietnam with 32.5 million passengers in 2016 and 38.5 million passengers in 2018 ...
.
Codeshare agreements
Pacific Airlines has codeshare agreement
A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...
s with only Vietnam Airlines
Vietnam Airlines ( vi, Hãng Hàng không Quốc gia Việt Nam, lit=Vietnam National Airlines) is the flag carrier of Vietnam. The airline was founded in 1956 and later established as a Government-owned corporation, state-owned enterprise i ...
.
Fleet
, Pacific Airlines has an all-Airbus A320 family fleet.
Services
Both in its current name and its prior incarnation as Jetstar Pacific, Pacific Airlines does not include in-flight catering
An airline meal, airline food, or in-flight meal is a meal served to passengers on board a commercial airliner. These meals are prepared by specialist airline catering services and normally served to passengers using an airline service trolley. ...
in its fares, instead offering a buy-on-board service for food and drinks. As Pacific Airlines (Jetstar Pacific) does not operate medium-haul routes, Pacific Airlines (or its prior incarnation as Jetstar Pacific) does not offer in-flight entertainment
In-flight entertainment (IFE) refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. In 1936, the airship ''LZ 129 Hindenburg, Hindenburg'' offered passengers a piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the ...
.
See also
* Air transport in Vietnam
Air transport in Vietnam is the commercial air transport of passengers, freight and mail within Vietnam and between Vietnam and the rest of the world. The government's Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, the civil aviation authority under t ...
References
External links
Pacific Airlines official website
{{Airlines of Vietnam
Airlines of Vietnam
Airlines established in 1990
Low-cost carriers
Vietnamese brands
Qantas
Companies based in Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnamese companies established in 1990
1990 establishments in Vietnam