Airline in trouble for welcoming footballers with scantily clad women

A budget airline in Vietnam has come under fire for welcoming a football team with scantily clad women. Yes, really.

The stunt was organised while the Vietnamese under-23 football team was on board the plane, having just lost to their Uzbekistani equivalent in the Under-23 Asian Football Confederation Championship.

The tournament was being held n China and it had made stars of the team back in their homeland.

Although the airline might have thought they were rewarding the team in this manner, it backfired badly and lead to strong condemnation of the company on social media.

Images of the five women, who were wearing low-cut sequined tops and shorts, were shared across Facebook and Twitter, with many people threatening to boycott Vietjet as a result.

According to the Daily Mailcomments on Facebook stated:

It's disgusting. I will boycott Vietjet for this.

And

Vietjet's move was so rude, cheap and offensive to the team, the fans and even its passengers.

The backlash was so strong against Vietjet that they were forced to offer an apology and claimed that it was an "improvised move" and not a piece of marketing – adding that "relevant staff" had been disciplined.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has since fined Viejet 40 million dong (£1,240) and the plane's chief stewardess a further 4 million dong (£124).

And it isn't the first time Vietjet has found itself in this situation.

In August 2012 the airline was fined 20 million dong (£620) for including a group of bikini-clad women as part of an in-flight entertainment routine.

HT news.com.au

More: This pilot wrote a letter to all his passengers for the most amazing reason

More: The secrets flight attendants will never tell you