Susan4

Booking a flight for my daughter 1-way Chiang Mai to Luang Prebang in August. She is currently traveling around SE Asia on the cheap and would rather pay $164 on Lao Air than $309 on Bangkok Air, but says she heard Lao Airlines not so safe. Wish she hadn't told me that! I offered to pay the difference if safety is an issue.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Mabuk dan gila

In former years Lao Aviation used to crash their Chinese built Y-12's somewhat regularly. Most often due to inadequate nav aids and lacking infrastructure on the ground at some of the more remote airports they service and nasty weather conditions that are common in the region.

IIRC 5-6 years ago they contracted with Air France to help them get their house in order and with foreign financial backing purchased modern ATR-72's and such, changed the name to Lao Airlines and have had a good safety record since then. So it seems reasonable to assume that their "always crashing" days are behind them and they have put in place a legitimate, serious, and effective safety program to address any problems that may have existed in the past. I wouldn't worry about flying them today. They are just fine.

Susan4

Thanks Mabuk dan gila. Lao Airlines it is then.

Mabuk dan gila

Found this interesting article. Here's where the bad reputation came from. But notice the date on the article. 20 October, 2000. They haven't had a major incident since that time and have long since remedied most of the factors mentioned. It's a different airline today.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/981769.stm

I flew one of the old Y-12's from Vientiane to Oudomxay back in 2003. A most interesting experience worth the risk

jiejie

In spring 2001 (yes '01) I flew the CNX to LPQ flight on Lao Aviation, and it was a very decent ATR even back then. Lao NEVER ran the dodgy old Yak aircraft on the international routes. They are even better now, including most of the major domestic routes. I wouldn't hesitate to fly them.

I like Bangkok Airways too, but they tend to have premium pricing unless you can luck into a special, or can make use of their multi-segment Discovery Pass.

toyotaboy95

Bangkok Airways is a bit more popular among travellers than Lao Aviation, but if you're looking for cheap, go for Lao.

beachfan

In looking at the available routes under discovery pass at the bangkok air web page, I thought the only routes from Chiang Mai were to either Bankok or Samui.

(Bummed because I wanted to go Chiang Mai to Phuket, which looks like it's 2 segments on the pass, maybe cheaper to just do it outright.

Glad to hear about Lao Air because that's the airline you need to take for Siam Reap - Luang Prabang or Luang-Prabang-Chiang Mai.