After a few very nice days in Siem Reap, the next stop was to hop briefly to the neighboring country of Laos and the city of Luang Prabang. I decided to visit Luang Prabang after seeing a « 60-second vacation » program about it on CNN. Considering that Vietnam Airlines has a fifth-freedom flight between Siem Reap and Luang Prabang several times a week, and i used 9000 Flying Blue miles + 51 Euros of taxes to fly this short route.
Just like Phnom Penh airport, Siem Reap airport is managed by Vinci airports and it looks pretty nice.
In addition to the 5-weekly flights to Luang Prabang, VN operates several flights out of Siem Reap daily, to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh ville. Only 2 counters were open, with no Sky Priority signage. A long line of passengers were queuing on the left lane while the right lane was almost empty, so I decided to give a try and ask the agent (who was playing on his phone) if this was the Sky Priority lane. He said that it was « fine » and after a minute or so, my luggage was tagged to LPQ and my boarding passes issued.
Siem Reap airport entrance
After a swift exit immigration control and security clearance, I headed, together with 2 of my friends to the Plaza Premium lounge.
Plaza Premium Lounge REP airport
My two friends were flying on Air Asia (which is not a sky team partner) and since this lounge was also a priority pass lounge, I decided to give a try and ask if I could guest both of them using my priority pass membership and use my Skyteam Elite plus status to get me access to the lounge. After a few minutes of discussion, they agreed to have the 3 of us come into this nice lounge.
Bar
The lounge is very pleasant and comfortable and has a cold and hot buffet, with cooked to order noodles, and also a staffed bar. An outside terrace is also available, such as clean restrooms and showers inside the lounge.
Outdoor area
I stayed about 45 minutes in the lounge before going back to the terminal as the inbound flight from Ho Chi Minh city landed earlier than expected.
I found the terminal to be also very nice, with lots of natural light and space to sit.
REP terminal
No I haven't tried that one !
Inbound flight from SGN, continuing to LPQ and HAN
Boarding eventually started, with Sky Priority boarding being called first, at 16:30. Since REP does not have any jet bridges, boarding was done by walking on the tarmac and using stairs, allowing some extra sightseeing of the airport.
Vietnam Airlines Airbus A321
Vietnam Airlines VN930, November 28th 2018
Siem Reap REP - 17:05
Luang Prabang LPQ - 18:35
Airbus A321 – VN-A615 – Seat 10F (initially 10C), Economy class, window.
I was one of the first passengers to enter the aircraft and took my assigned seat 11C (I asked during check in if I could get a front seat, which the agent gladly assigned). The legroom was good as it is the first seat of the economy class section. Although the seats are different in Business and Economy class, No bulkhead wall was present between the two sections, just a curtain was there. The aircraft was clearly not full that day and maybe only 40 to 50 passengers were present, and mostly seated at the rear of the cabin. So I decided to move to the window seat 11F once the announcement « boarding completed » was made. 2 passengers were present in the business class cabin, which had a capacity of 8 seats.
Row 10
Leg room in Row 10
View on the Business class cabin
Not a very busy flight !
New legroom !
We took off at 16:53 after a short taxi to the runway. Service began 10 minutes later, when a snack box, containing a small chicken sandwich, a cookie and a bag of cuttlefish green peas, was distributed. A few minutes later, the immigration form for Laos was also distributed
Take off from Siem Reap
Snack box
The flight was pretty uneventful and the crew was not very friendly to say the least, as they were barely smiling or talking. The sun set during our approach to LPQ and we landed at 18:05, which is 30 minutes before scheduled arrival time, and parked next to a Lao airlines Airbus A320
Approaching Luang Prabang
Welcome in Lao !
Just like Cambodia, The People’s Democratic Republic of Lao requires most of the citizenships to apply for a visa on arrival (understand « pay-to-enter »). The applied fee depends on the citizenship of the passenger, and as a French-passport holder, I remember paying 32 USD, including the 1 USD fee for taking a picture at the airport.
Since I was one of the first passengers to disembark, I was also one of the first one to complete the second form required to apply for a Visa on arrival (this one was not provided on the plane, but just before the immigration counters), and therefore did not have to queue to get my picture taken and my Visa issued. The luggage arrived within 20 minutes after landing and I was outside the very small terminal by 18:25.
Immigration hall LPQ airport
Visa issued !
Lao tuk-tuk, different than in Bangkok or Cambodia ...