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Flight Review: Lao Airlines – Vientiane to Ho Chi Minh City

December 11, 2016 By James Clark Leave a Comment

Flight: Lao Airlines QV 515
From: Vientiane (VTE) To: Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) Via: Pakse (PKZ)

Flight Review: Lao Airlines - Vientiane to Ho Chi Minh City

I flew with Lao Airlines from Vientiane to Ho Chi Minh City. I compared flights with Skyscanner to find what my options were.

At the time of my travel there was no non-stop flight between the two cities. There are two flights marketed as direct, which have one stop on the way. Vietnam Airlines flies via Phnom Penh, and Lao Airlines flies via Pakse. I choose the Laos Airlines flight as it was cheaper and also because I have never flown with them before so I wanted to try a new airline.

The cheapest flight listed was two separate AirAsia flights via Don Muang in Bangkok. By the time I added checked bags and fees that would have worked out the same. Plus the thought of transiting through Don Muang did not appeal to me.

Booking the flight on the Lao Airlines website was surprisingly simple. Compared to the hoops you have to jump through on AirAsia, and sheer ugliness of the VietjetAir website, this was a refreshing change. I selected my flight and the grand total was there on the page, without any of the bollocks of added charges. The total was $150USD.

Lao Airlines VTE-SGN booking details

The flight is direct to Saigon, via Pakse in southern Laos. It’s the same aircraft and flight number the whole way, and not changing aircraft to a new flight at Pakse.

As the first segment of the flight is a domestic flight I wasn’t sure if I should go to the domestic or international terminal at Vientiane. I went to the international terminal, but the check in was in domestic. I thought it would be domestic but no big deal as VTE is a small airport.

In this situation the general rule is that an airline flying within its own country is a domestic flight. An international airline flying within another country would be considered as international. For example my flight with Singapore Air from Cape Town to Singapore stops to pick up passengers at Johannesburg. It doesn’t have the rights to operate domestic flights in South Africa so it goes from international at Cape Town.

The domestic terminal was being renovated so the terminal was in a temporary shed. Vientiane airport is close to the city centre, and it took me six minutes to get a tuk-tuk from my hotel to the airport. I noticed on a map that there is a reservation further out of the city for a new airport, but for now the current one is being expanded.

VTE airport construction

In the domestic terminal this lady was making the best Laos coffee, where a sock of coffee is plunged into a boiling kettle of water. Such a great coffee-making method!

Making Laos coffee

For this flight the aircraft was an ATR72-600. It’s been a while since I’ve flown on a turboprop so I enjoyed that in itself for the variety in flying experience.

James at VTE

The ATR72 has 74 seats in a 2×2 configuration. The cabin and seats are narrower than what most flyers are accustomed with in A320/737 jets. I asked for a window seat on the A-side so I could get a view of Saigon when arriving.

ATR seats

The inflight magazine of Lao Airlines is Champa Muanglao.

Lao Airlines inflight magazine - Champa Muanglao

I always read the inflight magazine for the route map.

Route Map

The Vientiane to Pakse segment is an hour and 15 minutes. Drinks and a snack of dried fruit chips was served.

VTE - PKZ snack

Flying over the rugged beauty of Laos.

Somewhere over Laos

Arriving at Pakse we had to get off and take our possessions.

Arrival at Pakse

We passed through the baggage reclaim, though the bags are checked through to SGN. It is at Pakse that you go through immigration and get your exit stamp.

Boarding HCM

The same flight number and aircraft continues to Ho Chi Minh.

Pakse departure

Pakse is a small airport so there were no delays, and I was happy to make the stop here instead of the Bangkok option.

Departing Pakse

This segment has a scheduled flying time of an hour and 35 minutes, and a lunch pack is served.

Lunch Box

Lunch consisted of two savoury pastries of mystery ingredients, a cake, and some fruit.

Lunch

Interesting to note on the lunch box there was a different route map which had a flight connection Vientiane to Bali. There was no indication if this was a future route, so I will be keeping an eye on flight news for that one.

Future route map

Arriving at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City.

Landing at SGN

Being a small plane means no air bridge, so it is a bus to the terminal.

Deplaning at SGN

Overall this was a good flight between Vientiane and Saigon. I suspect that as low cost airlines like Vietjet and Jetstar expand their services they may start looking at direct non-stop flights to Laos. For now though this is a decent option.

Filed Under: Flight Review Tagged With: ho chi minh city, lao airlines, laos, vientiane, vietnam

About James Clark

James Clark is the founder of Nomadic Notes. He has been a digital nomad since 2003, and Nomadic Notes features trip reports, train travel articles, and where to stay guides. He writes about transport and urban development at Future Southeast Asia. Subscribe to the weekly travel newsletter.

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James Clark from Nomadic Notes

Hi, I’m James Clark, and I've been travelling the world since 2003 while running a location independent travel business. Nomadic Notes is a travel blog featuring travel guides and notes from my travels.

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