English Court Freezes VietJet Assets Worldwide, Capped at $251.6 Million
Key Facts
On October 15, a judge of the English High Court’s Commercial Court issued a worldwide order freezing VietJet’s assets, capping their value at $251.6 million after finding strong evidence of a risk that assets could be dissipated. The ruling comes in a dispute between the company and financiers over aircraft leasing agreements, and covers rights and financial assets linked to aircraft orders and their financing. According to law firm Slaughter and May, the judge found “strong evidence showing a real risk of dissipation of assets.” The order allows VietJet to deal with its assets in the ordinary and proper course of business. However, it requires court permission for certain transactions involving aircraft orders, maintenance reserves and lease deposits held outside Vietnam.
The court said the company transferred to Cayman Islands-registered Angelica Holding the economic rights associated with its future order book as it stood in December 2024. Brick Court Chambers said the transfer covered “almost the entire value of the order book” at that time. VietJet said the transactions were in the ordinary course of its business, according to the account of the court proceedings. The order’s impact is focused on specific categories of assets and cross-border transactions, while ordinary business activity remains permitted. The ruling thus combines the continuation of the company’s operations with judicial oversight of dealings in certain assets outside the country.
The case stems from an alleged breach of four sublease agreements for two Airbus A321-271 aircraft and two Airbus A321-211 aircraft. The ruling said the financiers sent notices terminating the agreements in October 2021, after rent remained unpaid during Covid lockdowns. From a dispute over leases for four aircraft, the case expanded to rights linked to the company’s order book and aircraft financing. According to a Bloomberg report published in The Business Times, VietJet’s fleet comprises about 112 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, while its order book exceeds 300 new aircraft. These figures relate to the company itself, unlike the broader figure for orders by Vietnamese airlines collectively.
The current order is the second application by FWA to freeze the assets. A judge rejected its first application in 2025 for failure to establish a risk of dissipation of assets, according to the UK court record. FWA said new evidence had emerged since July 2025 concerning the transfer of order-book rights to a related company. The move follows creditors’ unsuccessful efforts to recover amounts owed through multiple legal avenues. The ruling said Vietnamese courts at first instance and on appeal had refused to recognise the English judgments, and enforcement efforts in other jurisdictions had yielded no recovery by that time.
In separate asset-recovery proceedings, the judge ruled on September 30 that appointing receivers over VietJet’s assets was appropriate in principle, subject to costs being proportionate and the terms being specified. But the ruling had not become a final order appointing them by the hearing on the freezing application. This meant receivership remained a possible step pending completion of the details, while the worldwide freezing order had already been issued on October 15. According to Bloomberg, VietJet said it would not comment on the latest ruling.