Pacific Airlines

Is Pacific Airlines safe?

Yes. Pacific Airlines, the low-cost arm of Vietnam Airlines, has had no accident and has not lost an aircraft in the last 20 years, a period that covers its years as Jetstar Pacific. We score it 79. The airline you would fly today is not the one that built that record, though. In 2024 it ran out of money, handed back every jet and stopped flying for three months. It came back with three A321s borrowed from its parent, and the parent now wants to sell it.

What happened in 2024?

In mid-March 2024 Pacific Airlines suspended all flights and returned all of its leased A320s to their owners. The airline said it was restructuring its fleet and routes; Tuoi Tre reported that the lessors wrote off about US$220 million of debt in return for the aircraft. Pacific denied rumours of bankruptcy and told the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) it would lease three A321s from Vietnam Airlines, the minimum it needed to keep its licence and its take-off and landing slots.

Flights restarted on 26 June 2024, at first with a single aircraft, on routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi and Chu Lai and from Hanoi to Da Nang, with extra flights to Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Hue and Tuy Hoa at peak times. Pacific added business class for the first time and began selling tickets on the Vietnam Airlines website. In July 2026 the CAAV counted three A321s for Pacific Airlines, and ch-aviation gave the same number in October 2026.

A suspension like this matters for safety mainly through people: pilots and engineers leave, and the ones who stay fly less. We found no report of a problem after the restart. The jets that were returned are no longer part of the airline, so they do not count in the fleet score.

From Jetstar Pacific back to Pacific Airlines

Pacific Airlines was founded in 1991 as Vietnam's first low-cost airline. In 2007 Qantas bought 30% and the airline took the Jetstar Pacific name. Vietnam Airlines took over the state's 68% in 2012, and in October 2020 Qantas gave its stake to Vietnam Airlines, which now holds about 99%, and the Pacific Airlines name came back. Through all of this the airline kept its own certificate and the BL code, so its record runs unbroken. It also kept its IOSA registrationIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary: IATA's registry lists Pacific Airlines as registered after a 2024 renewal audit, valid until 27 November 2026.

That record is quiet. The Aviation Safety Network database has no accident for Pacific Airlines or Jetstar Pacific. AeroInside lists two events in the Jetstar Pacific years:

• 27 June 2014, Da Nang: an air traffic controller cleared a Jetstar Pacific A320 for take-off to Ho Chi Minh City while a Vietnam Airlines A321 was still on the runway. The error was the controller's, not the airline's, but it shows the kind of risk at busy Vietnamese airports.
• 2 October 2017, near Gaya, India: an A320 on flight BL105 from Hanoi, with 181 people on board, had a smoke warning from the cargo hold.

A short list from Vietnam is not a clean record. The CAAV publishes few occurrence reports, so we keep incidents at 68, as for Vietravel Airlines.

Who flies the planes?

Pacific's own crews, as far as the reports show. The CAAV counts its three A321s separately from the 59 A321s of Vietnam Airlines, and VietnamFinance reported in June 2024 that the first A321 was a dry lease from the parent: aircraft only, without Vietnam Airlines pilots. Under our rules, any event on these jets counts in full on this page, not on the Vietnam Airlines page. Tickets are sold on the Vietnam Airlines website, but the BL flight number tells you Pacific is the airline flying you.

What comes next

Vietnam Airlines is trying to sell its entire stake in Pacific Airlines, and at its June 2026 shareholder meeting it said Pacific and its regional airline VASCO serve different price segments in the group. In October 2026 ch-aviation reported, citing Bloomberg, that Vietnam Airlines wants to lease 20 to 25 A321neos to return to the low-cost market as early as 2027, and that it is unclear whether Pacific would be the vehicle. No deal had been signed. A buyer, a new fleet or a merger into another certificate would each change this page.

How to fly Pacific Airlines safely

• Check the operating airline on a Vietnam Airlines ticket. Pacific flights are sold on the Vietnam Airlines website; the BL code tells you which airline and certificate you are flying.
• Leave slack in your plans. With three aircraft, one technical problem can cancel flights, and the airline's future shape is undecided.
• In the autumn typhoon season, expect delays on routes into central Vietnam, such as Chu Lai, Da Nang and Hue.

How we scored it

The accident record (90) is the strongest factor: 20 years with no accident. Oversight (78), with IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary, is level with Vietnam Airlines. Fleet (68) and incidents (68) are held back by the small, borrowed fleet and Vietnam's thin reporting. Compare Vietjet at 80 and Vietnam Airlines at 83.