John Frangos, a partner and the head of Tilleke & Gibbins’ regional aviation practice, was quoted in the October 26-November 1 issue of Vietnam Investment Review in an article on foreign investment in Vietnam’s aviation sector.

Since the issuance in November 2019 of Decree No. 89/2019/ND-CP, which seemingly loosened barriers to entry for new foreign and domestic airlines in Vietnam, the civil aviation market has remained quiet—largely due to the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on international travel.

As John noted in the article, “[Airlines] are instead focusing on how to keep financially afloat until travel can safely resume. This means the airlines with strong financial reserves will be in a better position to ride out this challenge. But low-cost carriers with razor-thin margins will face difficulty. Until airlines and aviation investors have a better picture of when international travel will safely resume, they will continue to be very cost-conscious and minimize new investment plans, including in Vietnam.”

Vietnam Investment Review (VIR) is a leading English-language economics and business newspaper published weekly by Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment

The full article on investment in the aviation sector is available at the VIR website.