Vietjet Air CEO, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, has apologised for the use of models wearing bikinis on the plane welcoming the local U23 football team home yesterday.

Model Lai Thanh Huong is photographed hugging and sitting beside several players during their flight from Changzhou to Hanoi on January 28.

In an apology posted on Vietjet Air's Fanpage on Sunday evening, Thao said she wanted to say sorry to the Vietnam Football Federation, the national U23 football team and the public over the incident.

The low-cost carrier's CEO claimed the performance by dancers wearing bikinis on the flight taking the U23 football team from China to Hanoi on January 28, was not in their plan but added by the flight's reception team.

"A dancer had come to the players asking for their signatures and photo poses, which was not in the programme," Thao said, "And her photos were criticized by the public."

The CEO said that they had organised a meeting on the incident and had strictly punished staff.

Model Lai Thanh Huong was photographed hugging and sitting beside several players during their flight from Changzhou to Hanoi on January 28. The images were posted on Facebook. The post soon received thousands of negative comments from the public who criticised both the model and Vietjet Air for bad taste.

The model completely refuted Vietjiet Air's explanation.

"We were invited to perform a bikini show as models, not dancers," Huong's representative told the Phunuonline Newspaper. "We were asked to wear bikinis, not our choice."

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have asked their inspection team to report on the incident by January 31.

Speaking with Dtinews on January 29, head of the ministry's Department of Performing Arts, Nguyen Quang Vinh, stressed that these kinds of performances should be banned.

In 2012, VietJet Air was fined VND20 million (USD960) by Vietnam aviation authorities for organising a bikini show on the Ho Chi Minh City-Nha Trang City route.

Dtinews