gpanda

I'd be interested in any opinions concerning this airline. We're flying from Bangkok to Luang Prabang and back and Bangkok Air has us on a return using Lao Air. Thanks.

Cholula

I'm going to transfer this to the "Other Asian, Australian and South Pacific FF Programs" forum where it will stand a better chance for an answer.

Please follow the thread at it's new home.

Thanks.

_________________________

Cholula
CommunityBuzz! Forum Co-Moderator

USDHS1984

I have flown them domestically on one of their Harbin Y-12's from Vientiane to Oudomxay. I will rate that flight about a 7 on the "third world airline experience" scale. No live chickens or anything but the plane was heavily laden with cargo stacked in the doorway to the cockpit, which was open and during the flight and I could see the copilot napping. The flight was also in heavy thunderstorms and you could see a small radar screen on the control panel and actually watch the pilot actively navigating around the worst of the thunder cells. To their credit the pilot did do what appeared to be a very competent job flying the aircraft under extremely adverse conditions, in Laos where there are not proper ground based nav aids at the smaller airports. Despite the fact that the plane sure looked way overloaded with cargo to me, that Harbin Y-12 came off the ground with the shortest takeoff roll I have ever experienced in my life. In all it was actually quite fun. BTW the flight was overbooked but foreigners pay more for tickets than locals so they only bump Lao passengers. Returning, other than the airport check-in experience in Oudomxay which I rate as an 8.5 on the "third world airport experience" scale. The return flight was on an ATR-72 which seemed modern, well maintained, professional and overall pretty decent. No safety demonstration, announcements of any kind and such but a box meal was served on that short flight and the flight attendants were quite nice (and quite attractive too ;-). I'd rate it as a pretty average OK flight by international standards. ie, better than a US flight but not quit up to the standards of some other Asian carriers.

Internationally they fly their good planes. I imagine the ATR-72's and they try harder to conform to international standards. I would not hesitate to fly them. Lao Airlines (formerly Lao Aviation) crashed a number of the Y-12's a few years back and had a real bad safety reputation but allot of that was probably partly the nature of domestic aviation in Laos. Bad airports, no nav-aids and improper maintenance facilities. Lately I think they have substantial international capital and backing and have ironed out their safety problems. I don't think that was ever a really big issue on international flights anyway just domestically. They won’t be as good as Bangkok Airways but they will be better than Northwest or Delta. So fly them without worries.

sl1ppy

Flown with them once Luang Prabang - Vientianne on an ATR - both those airports have Nav aids.

They were fine, can't recall anything abnormal happening.

dll

I've taken both domestic and int'l flights with them - they're fine. They seem to have high dispatch reliability as all of my flights have been very punctual.

Bangkok Airways are a great little airline - I have also had very good experiences with them all things considered. They are reliable if not a bit overpriced. Try checking with a local Bangkok travel agency for discounts on them.

opushomes

Please see my travel report in that forum. Information is about 2 months old. ATRs are new, could not really tell the difference from Bangkok Air except for the airline name on the plane and the name on the snack box.

JohnWM

Late last month, May 2007, I flew two segments on Lao Airlines.

The first segment was from Chiang Mai, Thailand, to Luang Prabang, Lao. The flight was only about 1 hour, with very little turbulence. There were perhaps 20 or so passengers. The box lunch that was served was disgusting: a white-bread sandwich of something that I thought was breaded fried chicken, but that was green and moldy once bitten into. On this flight, the attendants did work the crowd with beverages right up until the final possible moments.

The second segment was from Luang Prabang, Lao, to Bangkok, Thailand. This flight was a bit more than an hour, with only a little turbulence. Once again, there were perhaps 20 or so passengers. No lunch was served, no beverages were offered. The male and female flight attendants both sat down the entire flight and provided no passenger service whatsoever.

When I am in that part of the world again, I will simply fly with Bangkok Airways because it is head and shoulders above any of the other airlines. I have had many flights already on Bangkok Airways and have never encountered poor quality meals, lack of beverage service, nor lazy employees.

Lao Airlines is worth perhaps a 6 or a 6 1/2.

DBCme

Flew Lao Air BKK-Vientianne-Luang Prabang-BKK and enjoyed it.
Not on an ATR, we rode an airbus.
clean, comfy, hot outside but a freezer inside the plane!
Served a hot meal on each flight, with cold towels to wash up with.
Great deal overall.

On return we made what I thought to be an unexpected stop in some small town in the middle of no where. The paved runway turned into dirt or gravel and we all just hopped off the plane for 10 minutes while a couple folks boarded. Odd, but absolutely fun.

DBCme

btw
a thai friend of mine found a 4 day 3 night Laos deal in a local BKK newspaper.
Cost about $260 air/hotel/transfers booking a day before departure. So consider that.

magyarflieger

Lao Airlines was one of the better travel experiences of the many small/regional flights I took in SE Asia last month. I flew LPQ-VTE, VTE-PKZ, and PKZ-REP. All flights included a (short) safety demo and the FAs seemed to take passenger safety seriously. The flights were all on time, with no turbulence despite the start of the rainy season in Laos. Lao Airlines (currently) operates Chinese-built MA-60s and the ATRs. Both planes looked to be in good condition.

On the ground, the LPQ ground staff got me onto an earlier flight to VTE for free, which I thought was a nice touch. Their airline office reps were friendly and helpful in both LPQ and VTE, just make sure to reconfirm your ticket with them a day or two ahead of time. Enjoy Luang Prabang!

UAPremExecflyer

I've just completed three legs on QV in the past four days: HAN-VTE, VTE-LPQ and LPQ-VTE. I was impressed. My initial flight from Hanoi was delayed two hours, so when I got to Vientiane my connection to Luang Prabang was gone! But I made my way to the domestic terminal, and after the first airline help desk person shrugged his shoulders, a second guy in the ticket office took charge and whisked me through onto a waiting LPQ flight. In all, I spent 20 mins on the ground before getting that plane to Luang. The return flight yesterday morning left 15 mins early! Smooth check-in. Got a little lunch box on each flight -- with an orange and a sandwich -- and a carton/container of water. Safety demonstration on each flight too with announcements in Lao and English. All three flights were on ATR-72s. HAN-VTE leg had less than 20 people on it, VTE-LPQ had about 15. But the LPQ-VTE return was packed. Only two open seats that I could count! Am now in the Bangkok Airways lounge at BKK waiting for PG to REP (Siem Reap). The other thing that was a big plus for me was on-line booking! I booked all tix on the Lao Airlines website -- it's fairly rudimentary, but more than functional.

jpatokal

Here's a little trip report of flying Vientiane-Luang Namtha on a Lao Airlines Xian MA60 turboprop:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/11552835-post13.html

Summary: Cramped seat pitch, but otherwise quite acceptable. Lao infrastructure is improving by leaps and bounds.

BTW, a moderator should change the name of this thread: there's now an entirely separate company called "Lao Air" that does domestic hops to minor destinations on 14-seater Cessnas.