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Vietjet Air SGN-HAN on new A321

Vietjet Air SGN-HAN on new A321

Old Apr 20, 2015, 3:17 am
  #1  
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Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Hanoi, Vietnam
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Vietjet Air SGN-HAN on new A321

Hello Everyone,

This is my debut TR, been reading for some time but this is the first time I've had the time and motivation to post my own. This trip was a fairly regular Vietnamese domestic flight on popular local LCC Vietjet Air. I fly them quite regularly within Vietnam and around Asia on their ever growing local network. This time I flew south from HPH-SGN on a normal A320 (of which VJ now have 22 I believe) with 2 friends. At this point I was thinking of starting my TR writing but in the rush to fly from an unknown airport I did not manage so...I'll describe that flight a little from memory. Then as I had a bit more time for the return SGN-HAN I started snapping away. After checking in I realised the flight would be operated by the new (and only) A321 in the fleet.

You will find that my future TR's will be mainly based around South East Asia (and possibly Europe when I take trips back to Scotland) and mostly using LCC's unless I come into some major $$. My style of flying is probably a little different form other members here, seeing as I have never been higher than Y and don't have any plans to at this point. My income is minimal living in Vietnam) so I will be sticking to lowest cost operators and deals and I don't have any mileage accounts or airline reward program memberships! But that doesn't stop me from flying whenever I can..usually 5-6 times a year and multiple flights per trip.

Advance apologies on the picture quality this TR, my phone camera is the only thing I have (except a massive SLR!).

Map courtesy of Great Circle Mapper.


Not my picture.. Did not catch the jet in daylight this time.



Flight 1 HPH-SGN

My friend and I took a taxi out to Cat Bi Airport about 5km South of Hai Phong city. The airport is only domestic although still carriers the word "international" in it's name. The check in area was small but I was processed quickly and efficiently by English speaking staff. The load to Ho Chi Minh today was at least 80% and considering this is small city it's impressive that 3 airlines can run about 3-4 flights a day each to Saigon.

Departing just before us was a Jetstar Pacific A321 recently leased from parent Vietnam Airlines destined for the Central city of Buon Ma Thuot. I thought it was quite a strange choice of plane for that route as the load looked quite small..and Vietjet reserve their 321 for HAN-SGN where there is a lot more demand.

The one picture I took at HPH and it's actually a better exterior shot than any I took in SGN!!


Vietjet's ambitious expansion plan, as well as current scheduled and charter routes

The flight was uneventful, with food and drink service making 2 rounds and also a dedicated Vietjet merchandise sale which attracted a lot of business from the Vietnamese first time flyers. Landed in Saigon on schedule and made our way by local bus (only 5000VND - 25cents) to the city centre.

Flight 2 SGN-HAN

After an exhausting 4 days in Saigon I made my way to the airport (this time by taxi) and waved goodbye to my friends as they headed back to HPH. But this time I was heading to HAN solo so I had time to document the trip better.

The taxi pulled up directly in front of the old terminal which is now purely domestic.

Before checking in, I wandered over to have a look at the international terminal. Although new, it is already overcrowded and clearly the new airport project needs to get going soon as Tan Son Nhat cannot get any bigger with it's location inside the city. Afternoon and evening international departures:


Vietjet have their own dedicated check in zone in SGN domestic. With a lot of departures (mostly to HAN) the area was busy and the wait was 15 minutes due mostly to locals with lots of check-in baggage. Vietjet recently launched a "skyboss" business service which gives lounge access, fasttrack check-in and free bags and food. The price difference is roughly triple the normal fare so there won't be a lot of interest in VN but it doesn't take up any space on the aircraft as the front section is still sold as economy. Check in was efficient and I requested a window seat which was acknowledged and agreed by the agent, though after receiving my boarding pass it was pointed out to me that they cannot select seats for me, despite being one of the first to check in 2 hours prior to departure. Oh well, no window pictures today!

Dedicated VJ terminal area.


Nice uniform!


Busy check in, quite a small area too


Red red red is the colour (apeing the success of another famous Asian LCC?)


Bond themed business lane

Having no desire for overpriced airport fast food or the lame Vietnamese food offered at SGN I brought my own bnh mỳ from the city. Supposed to be the best in the city.

Check out the meat content...30,000VND (about $1.50) which is an expensive sandwich in Vietnam.

After heading through security I did my normal airport routine (smoke, toilet, spotting, rest). Unfortunately SGN is pretty useless for spotting due to a walkway between the windows and the fact it was practically dark. However I did see this beast behind the ground level bus gates.


This might give you some indication of the number of flights between SGN and HAN every day..Mine is the 19.20 departure. Also notable is the fact that all the delays posted were for VN! The Vietnamese have nicknamed their national carrier "delay airlines" although the management are desperate to improve their reputation and become one of the best airlines in South East Asia. They still have a long way to go to match TG or SG. But the delivery of A350s and 787s this year should work in their favour. Their aging A330s and 777s are no match for the product found elsewhere.

Another domestic widebody of VN

Broken departure board

My happy place!!


Boarding pass which takes the form of a supermarket receipt similar to other LCC's. Although on the outbound flight from HPH I was issued a proper durable card.

Boarding commenced from gate 11 right on time and used an air-bridge possibly due to the use of a bigger jet (i'm not complaining). It meant of course that I couldn't catch sight of the jet until right on top of it!!


The queue was relatively orderly..Vietnamese people have no problem jumping in front of you so you have to be wary when waiting for anything!

Almost on board
RobertVN is offline  
Old Apr 20, 2015, 5:23 am
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Welcome and thank you for sharing this flight experience! Is that a crew member or a man with a garbage bag as his carry on? I've done the black garbage bag thing when my luggage broke. You should see the looks I got...

Originally Posted by RobertVN
Almost on board
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 5:27 am
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Welcome and a nice first post to get the ball rolling
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 5:37 am
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Originally Posted by RobertVN

But this time I was heading to HAN solo so I had time to document the trip better.

May the force be with you.
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 6:27 am
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Lets continue!

Sorry about cutting off halfway!

Here is the jet - the only peek I managed to get in SGN. Shes the 9000th Airbus delivery..not a bad achievement.


On board quickly and it was very clear to see how new the plane was, smelled clean and looked shiny. The crew were all pretty moody looking young people except the guy in the previous photo. I think they have to deal with a lot of problems on board and perhaps had been involved in this incident a couple of days prior in which a passenger had opened one of the fire escapes looking for the bathroom.

http://tuoitrenews.vn/society/27537/...ch-of-restroom

The result of that incident was clear with a large No Exit sign placed over the exit he had opened. I guess Vietjet utilize their aircraft so much that they haven't had the opportunity to fix it yet.


As a result the load of the plane was drastically lower than it should have been. With one exit door unusable there were about 50-60 empty seats in the middle of the jet and all exit row seats were deliberately unoccupied.
Pretty unfortunate incident on such a new plane!! But happens quite often in emerging aviation markets like Vietnam.

Settled into my aisle seat i requested to move to one of the empty rows after departure but they said no chance..luckily I had some friendly seat mates - a couple from Hanoi - who wanted to practice their English so I wasn't too upset about missing the sights outside (it was dark anyway).

looking back - plush leather - quite comfy.


Tight squeeze on the legroom - I think VJ managed to get the maximum 220 seats on the 321 and tall people like me suffer as a result, luckily the person in front didn't recline!

seat pocket contents


safety card

meals offered at $2.50, I didn't partake but my neighbours did


I had a beer for 30k ($1.50)

Note the curtain to separate the front section if they have enough "skybosses".


All in all the flight was as uneventful as I expected and I managed to watch a couple of episodes of Mad Men on my phone in flight. There was a constant queue for the bathroom so I didn't venture there this time. And when disembarking I asked one of the unfriendly looking flight attendants for a cockpit visit but was firmly denied..Maybe I need to hone my skills there a little. The captain today was Spanish (i think) with a Vietnamese co-pilot and the captain did his announcement in English and Spanish although there was very few foreigners on board.

Landing in Hanoi on time was smooth and we were greeted with humidity and higher temperatures than Saigon Summer has officially arrived. Noi Bai Airport has a brand new International Terminal which was visible on the roll though it looked like only local jets were in. Later departures include Japanese and Korean red eyes and VN services to Europe. We parked at a remote stand and were bussed to the terminal. This irritate me a little when terminal 1 is totally underutilised with only VN domestic using the air-bridges since the new terminal opened. LCC's could be given a discounted rate to keep the building functioning!!

disembarking



Warning about rhino horns is the first thing you see entering HAN domestic arrivals.

Lots of SGN


My sweet ride to the city!

Well thats that. Overall an average experience on VJ. The cabin crew could be a lot better, their English overall is very good but their manner needs work. Smiles go a long way. Airports in HAN and SGN are functional, but they reserve the good quality terminals for international. VJ's network will continue to expand rapidly this year with hopefully more flight NE and SE Asia and the launch of Thai VJ (eventually).

My next trip will be much bigger involving 2 North Asian LCCs and Qatar to Europe..Hopefully have some better pictures by then!! Let me know your thoughts on things to add and improve
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 11:10 am
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Thanks for the interesting report Robert. Nice to read reports that aren't focused on the quality of the champagne in the F class lounge
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 11:23 am
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RobertVN - Welcome to FlyerTalk. Excellent trip report.
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 2:13 pm
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Welcome and thanks, especially giving a report on an airline [and class] not usually high-lighted.

I look forward to more reports from you.
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Old Apr 20, 2015, 3:35 pm
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Welcome to Flyertalk RobertVN ^. Thanks for sharing, I like "Sky Boss" class....sounds better than Diamond or Platinum
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Old Apr 21, 2015, 6:15 am
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Welcome and thanks for this great first report. Visited Vietnam 2 month ago and used SGN too.
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Old Apr 23, 2015, 6:59 am
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Interesting report. Thanks.
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Old Apr 24, 2015, 5:43 am
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that sandwich looked good. so was it worth the premium price?
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Old Apr 24, 2015, 12:01 pm
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Originally Posted by grandgourmand
that sandwich looked good. so was it worth the premium price?
100%
The sandwiches in Si Gn are some of the best in the world.
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Old Dec 18, 2015, 12:47 pm
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Thanks RobertVN. Found this Trip Report very informative. I'm planning a trip to Vietnam next year and am considering taking VJ for some domestic travel.
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