Review of Vietnam Airlines flight Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City in Economy

Airline Vietnam Airlines
Flight VN255
Class Economy
Seat 26A
Aircraft Boeing 787-9
Flight time 01:50
Take-off 07 Aug 15, 18:50
Arrival at 07 Aug 15, 20:40
VN   #36 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 228 reviews
KhoiLM
By 1236
Published on 10th August 2016
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Hello everybody! This is my second report in Flight-report.com (My first report: http://flight-report.com/en/report/17497/Vietnam-Airlines-VN254-Ho-Chi-Minh-City-SGN-Hanoi-HAN), which is about the flight from Hanoi back to my hometown, Ho Chi Minh City after I'd finished my 9-day journey around the North of Vietnam with my family. This time I also flew with Boeing 787 Dreamliner, like my reverse flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi before. At the first time, when doing the online booking for the ticket, I had desired flying with both Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350, which are 2 newest kinds of airplanes in Vietnam Airlines's fleet. So I had booked the flight VN255 because this flight would be operated on Airbus A350. But all the things didn't happen as what I wanted! My flight was switched from Airbus A350 to Boeing 787, and I was very disappointed about this… I devoted all my "energy" in an endeavor to change to fly in the early flight operate on Airbus A350, but it was failed. But I'd known that this circumstance would happen, because all 3 Airbus A350 have been being scheduled to fly to Europe and North East Asia, or sometimes having lots of technical issues. They don't often fly between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. But anyway, I still had experience with the Dreamliner :)

I attended at the airport 90 minutes before the estimate departure time (17:55). But an announcement was made, and our flight was delayed 40 minutes. The aviation procedure was very fast, and I walked around Noi Bai Airport to waste the time. This time there were lots of domestic flights departing, but the airport wasn't crowded and noisy. The Internet connection was good, and I could easily get access to it to check my email and Facebook account.

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Then it was time for boarding. My seat was 26A, so I and some other people were last passengers to aboard. The registered number of our Boeing 787 is VN-A865, and this aircraft was delivered to Vietnam Airlines in 24th January 2015, according to www.planespotter.net . This seat was wide, comfortable and I loved it very much. The leg room was pretty spacious and it was suitable for some bit fat guys like me.

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The personal-screen is impressively large with high resolution. It is basic, and easy to use. One “plus-point” for Vietnam Airlines is the entertainment containing lots of new films, music, and I enjoyed it a lot.

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The take-off process was quiet, smooth and a bit fast. By that time, it was night time in Hanoi and I could see the city in the light.

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When we reached the sky, the cabin was dimmed. The color is very beautiful, attractive, and I imagined I was in a sky disco. But the light was too brightened, and I think the passengers would find it hard to sleep, or take a nap when it was turned on.

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After 15 minutes, all the passengers were served dinner. This was an evening flight, so we were served full dinner meal, not like the reverse flight we had been served just a cold sandwich. There are 2 alternatives about the meal for passengers: rice with beef, and noodle with chicken. I chose noodle, since I was allergic to beef. The meal wasn’t good at all, but at least I could still eat it as a snack. The flight attendants behaved well, enthusiastic; although their performance wasn't professional much.

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After finishing the meal, I turned the air show, and listened to an new Adele's album. At that moment, we had just passed the sea and were in the airspace of Danang City. We had completed half of the flight, and we would land at Ho Chi Minh City in 45 more minutes.

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Finally we were descending to land. The weather wasn’t good, and there were lots of airplanes landing at Tan Son Nhat this time, so we had to fly around and wait for a perfect moment to land.

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This is the end my report. Thank you for reading!
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Verdict

Vietnam Airlines

7.0/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Meal/catering6.0

Hanoi - HAN

6.9/10
Efficiency6.5
Access6.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness8.0

Ho Chi Minh City - SGN

7.5/10
Efficiency7.5
Access7.5
Services7.0
Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

Generally, I had a nice flight with Vietnam Airlines. I had experience with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and saw lots of improvement since the carrier had been nominated as a 4-star airline. But I would expect more about the service. The carrier now should focus on it soft service, to be better. Especially the catering, it should be more delicious, and hotter. And the flight attendants's behavior should be improved also, some guys still have a "not-good" attitude when serving the passenger. The delay is also a problem of Vietnam Airlines, since it may affect seriously to the passengers.

Information on the route Hanoi (HAN) Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 20 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne Hanoi (HAN) → Ho Chi Minh City (SGN).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Bamboo Airways avec 7.6/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 48 minutes.

  More information

4 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 362644 by
    Rl 777 802 Comments
    Thank you for sharing this FR with us!

    The A350 is a comfortable aircraft to fly with from my experience, I'm sorry you couldn't try it this time. Hopefully another time!

    The IFE looks great, a large screen with a good resolution.

    It's nice they served you a meal instead of a snack on this flight.

    They were certainly playing around with the mood lighting on your flight.

    Have a good one, see you!
    • Comment 362750 by
      KhoiLM AUTHOR 2 Comments
      Thank you so much Mr RI 777, for your nice comment :) I prefer the Airbus A350 over Boeing 787 Dreamliner too. Actually our flight would depart 5:50 PM (as schedule), and the ticket showed that we would be served a refreshment during the flight. But the flight was delayed, and by the time we departed was dinner time, so we were served a meal! But I don't like either the refreshment nor meal, it wasn't good and delicious; it was a bit industrial :-p. =Boeing 787 Dreamliner too.
  • Comment 362930 by
    nikkoap92 9 Comments
    So nice when you experience moodlight on 787. Ive been on 787 couple times but I never see any moodlight. The purser even refused to turn it on when I requested and I was in J cabin actually. :(

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