A UK court has frozen VietJet Aviation’s assets worldwide as aircraft finance company FW Aviation Holdings Limited (FWA) pursues more than $250 million in unpaid court judgments, AeroTime reported.
According to the report, the UK Commercial Court issued the order Oct. 15, finding a real risk that the airline could move assets beyond its creditors’ reach. The ruling follows several earlier decisions in FWA’s favor, AeroTime said.
The judgments stem from leases on four Airbus A321 aircraft delivered to VietJet in 2018 and 2019 under a financing structure known as Japanese Operating Leases with Call Options (JOLCO). FWA sued after the leases were terminated in October 2021, and in April 2025 the UK High Court ordered VietJet to pay about $181.5 million in termination payments and unpaid rent, AeroTime reported. With interest and costs, the debt later topped $250 million. FWA had recovered all four aircraft by December 2022, but that did not settle the debt, the publication said.
AeroTime reported that the court also examined agreements between VietJet and a related company, Angelica Holding Limited, under which VietJet transferred nearly all the value of its future aircraft order book, based on its December 2024 value, to the affiliate. The judge questioned what VietJet would receive in return, calling the expected payments illusory, and raised concerns about some evidence the airline had submitted earlier, according to the report. The order does not cancel VietJet’s aircraft orders, AeroTime said.
Separately, in a Sept. 30 ruling, the court found that appointing receivers over certain VietJet assets outside Vietnam was appropriate in principle, subject to further consideration of terms and costs, per AeroTime. The receivership and the freezing order are separate measures aimed at helping FWA collect the money owed, the publication reported.
For more details, read the full report by Gabriele Petrauskaite on AeroTime.
