The UK High Court has granted a worldwide freezing order covering assets held outside Vietnam by budget carrier VietJet Air in connection with a debt of more than $250 million owed to aircraft lessor FW Aviation (FWA), according to a court order.
FWA is an affiliate of UK-based FitzWalter Capital, which operates funds investing in distressed credit assets. The firm bought the outstanding loans from the original bank lenders in October 2021, after VietJet fell behind on payments for four Airbus A321 aircraft.
While the debt has swollen to over $250 million, VietJet has paid only $2 million by May 19, 2025.
“Despite its apparent financial health and profitability, which enable it to order many millions of dollars of new aircraft, VietJet has paid virtually no part of the judgment debt,” the court order wrote.
FWA has characterised VietJet as a debtor that “won’t pay” rather than one that “can’t pay”, according to the proceedings.
The dispute has also centred on efforts to enforce the judgment in Vietnam and other jurisdictions. The court order noted that a Vietnamese court had refused to recognise the judgment, while enforcement efforts elsewhere had also faced resistance from VietJet.
FWA’s lawyers argued that VietJet had engaged in arrangements that could put assets beyond the reach of creditors and frustrate efforts to recover the debt. They alleged that assurances previously given by VietJet—that it was seeking to raise funds to repay the debt and was not taking steps to move assets out of reach—were no longer credible.
A key issue is the transfer of VietJet’s contractual and economic rights under its aircraft order book to a related entity incorporated in the Cayman Islands, Asia Holdings Limited, according to the court documents.
The order book, covering 300 aircraft, was described in the proceedings as VietJet’s most valuable asset from the perspective of international enforcement.
VietJet, however, claimed that it was regular aviation business conduct.
The Vietnamese airline currently operates about 110 jets. It is a listed company with a market cap of $3.8 billion.
