Vietnamese airline with bikini-clad stewardesses for IPO, to make owner the country’s first lady billionaire

• Owner of popular Vietnamese airline set to become country’s first woman billionaire with IPO


• Airline is famous for featuring bikini-clad flight attendants on flights and company calendars


• With successful gamble, airline was able to corner 30 percent of the market in just five years

For Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, the gambit to make gorgeous young flight attendants wear bikinis in her airline company VietJet is about to hit pay dirt.

With the carrier’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) scheduled within the next 90 days, the 45-year-old’s fortune is expected to increase to $ 1.37 billion— effectively making her Vietnam’s first woman billionaire.

Photo/Image by Aviation JSC

In an interview with Bloomberg however, Thao— an entrepreneur who first started her career buying and selling fax machines and latex rubber— said she is more focused with new strategies to improve her company.

“I’ve never sat down and calculated my assets. I’m just focused on how to boost the company’s growth, how to increase the average salary for my employees, how to lead the airline to gain more market share and make it number one,” she said.

Aside from the airline, Thao also holds a 90-percent stake in private conglomerate Sovico Holdings and is a majority shareholder in three resorts.

VietJet, which started operations in 2011, has since cornered 30 percent of the market under Thao’s guidance and is seen as a major competitor of her country’s flag carrier Vietnam Airlines.

It currently offers 47 flight destinations across the country and the rest of Asia. It features the bikini-wearing attendants on maiden flights to beach destinations.

Asked about the criticism her marketing ploy gets from conservatives, Thao shrugged it off and said her employees are not forced to wear bikinis if they feel uncomfortable.

“You have the right to wear anything you like, either the bikini or the traditional ao dai (Vietnamese clothing). We don’t mind people associating the airline with the bikini image. If that makes people happy, then we are happy,” she said.

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