***VIDEO FLIGHT REPORT IS BELOW
Vietnam Airlines has commenced its first Airbus A350 XWB recently in part of its ambitious plan in renewing the wide-body fleet with all Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Vietnam Airlines is also the first airline to operate both Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 at the same time in Asia-Pacific.
For long time, I planed to take a flight in this new aircraft. The experience was amazing. The A350's cabin atmosphere is nice, less noise. The new business class in this aircraft is great also with flat-bed seat.
I started my flight at noon. As I checked in online and printed out the boarding pass, I didn't have to go to check-in counter. I just showed my print boarding pass at the security gate and went straight to the business lounge. At the lounge, the staff let me in automatically without invitation card. Actually I didn't have to print my boarding pass. Tablet or smartphone is enough. This is not new to the world but quite new to Vietnam Airlines.
I was dedicated to the Lotus Lounge of Vietnam Airlines inside domestic terminal but this lounge is usually crowded. I went to the lounge beside which is a serviced lounge for Priority Pass members, VietJet Air Skyboss (business class) passengers, Mobifone Gold Card customers. I have Mobifone Gold Card so I decided to go to this lounge. It's much quieter. The lounge food was good also.
The flight was on time. Business class passengers, Platinum, Gold, Titan members was boarding through a priority lane (Sky Priority of Skyteam). And I saw my ride. The first time I saw the Airbus A350 was the moment I felt something strange. It's new, beautiful and shiny.
Vietnam Airlines' Airbus A350 has 29 business class seats with 1-2-1 config. I chose the window seat. I love the new design of these business class seats. It would be great for long-haul flights. Vietnam Airlines will operate A350 and Boeing 787 on Europe and Notheast Asia routes. For domestic flights, Vietnam Airlines doesn't offer entertainment service. Inflight wifi hasn't been available yet. The seat is equipped with big screen, USB charging. Vietnam Airlines' new plane also has 45 deluxe economy seats and 231 economy seats.
While other passengers were boarding, newspapers, magazines, cold towel and welcome drink were served for business class passengers. You can see the new uniform of Vietnam Airlines cabin crew.
I love the cabin atmosphere. When the plan took off, there was less noise and the cabin pressure didn't make me uncomfortable.
The new window was nice too. It was clear to take a look at everything outside.
How beautiful is the wing ^^
Onboard wifi is not available yet
20 minutes after taking off, lunch was served. It was a full meal for 1:40 hrs domestic flight and it was good enough.
The toilet:
After lunch, I tried the flat-bed seat. Beautiful!
Landing in Noi Bai:
Here is the video report for this flight:
Now this report is something really special! The first Vietnam A350. The paintwork is still so shiny.
Thanks! It's the first one and many people wanna ride it. Seriously, the cabin atmosphere was great. The pressure is adjusted so that you won't feel headache.
Thanks a lot for sharing.
This plane looks really beautiful. With a nice wingflex like the 787 it would look perfect!
Great comfort and meal for a domestic flight.
See you!
Thank you very much for sharing my report, I am very glad you guys liked it.
I will come back one day, there is too many nice places to visit there :)
Thanks for reading my report. I read your report about VietJet Air yesterday. Very interesting. I shared your report to the group Vietnam Air Spotter on Facebook and everyone loves it. Thanks for promoting my country through your beautiful photos.
I was thinking I would the first to report that aircraft, you were faster than me! I'm flying from HCMC to Hanoi on August! Did you see how the eco class looks like? Thanks for sharing!
haha no problem! I'm only with Cathay Pacific for the moment but i'll ask for sure! Yeah I saw it when I was booking, but it was the double price so... Will I have to pay for Deluxe Eco?? Thanks for the reply!
Hi. So sorry for report this aircraft first. :P The economy class seats are not so special. I think you should try deluxe eco seats. For domestic flight, there's no deluxe eco class but you still can ask the check-in agent to select the deluxe eco seat on A350 (row 10-15). Usually these rows are for Platinum and Gold Card members of Vietnam Airlines but you can try asking the agent. In August, there's also new Boeing 787-9 coming to Vietnam Airlines. You can also try to fly on it in August. B787 also flies on SGN HAN route. For B787, deluxe eco rows are from 10-15 also.
The wrong thing about this business seat layout is that every other window seat is far from the window.
An interesting jumble of foreign planes in SGN ! (last picture on the ground)
The silence of this new aircraft is good news for all passengers, in economy too.
The plane is so spotless on your pictures, inside and outside, it looks like this was her first flight.
Thanks for sharing !
Thanks for reading :) It's very new and shiny. For business class seats, not all window seats are far from windows. Seats on row 2, 4, 6, 8 close to the windows :P I chose the wrong seat :P
Greetings Travip and thank you for this great look at VNs future. I must say the future looks pretty good. Flat bed seats with direct aisle access is the standard for J now so I'm glad that VN did this right.
The airplane/livery are simply stunning. The colors and logo are elegant. It is among my favorite liveries but this could also be a byproduct of my affinity for the Country of Vietnam too...
The meal looked more than adequate for a 1:45 domestic service.
Thanks again for sharing this and happy flying.
Thanks so much for reading my report! I agree that the new livery is cool. Actually it changed a little bit from the old one with brighter blue and much cooler logo.
Thanks for posting the nice photos of the A350! IMO, it would be even better if VN used the reverse herringbone seats for this plane. Also you mentioned the 787, so I wonder how the ride in an A350 feels compared to a 787. I flew in a 787 for the first time this year and I found it to be not as great as Boeing has said. In fact I prefer flying on Airbus A380 anytime.
Looking forward to fly on an A350 soon!
I will fly Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787 next month. I will see if it's as comfortable as A350 or not. :D Thanks for reading.
Thanks so much for sharing this first report on the VN A350. What a beautiful aircraft--it looks absolutely gorgeous in the new VN livery. Beautiful photos throughout. The new Business class looks great, though I'm not a big fan of the mustard yellow/green color of the seats. Looking forward to the report on the 787 to compare!
Thanks Kevin! You're right about the seat colors. I don't really like it also. Hope to fly 787 soon to compare. ^^
Thanks for sharing with us this very exclusive flight ! The new cabin looks great and is so much better then the previous one. The meal seems correct but a bit disappointing but it's true it's a short flight. I like the new uniforms but thought they came in various colours ?
Thanks for reading. About the uniform, there're 2 colors. The sapphire one is for normal flight attendant, the yellow one is for purser. :)
Thanks for the trip report, its great to see other Asian airlines improving their fleet.
This product will make Vietnam Airlines a lot of more competitive.
I hope they will this plane down to Australia to replace their old recliner seat product.
Well, eventually. I really hope that I could fly A350 or 787 to Australia soon. Vietnam Airlines will soon replace all old wide-body jets with new ones.
It would be amazing if they did! because this product is better than asiana, thai and malaysia who fly old seats to australia. They will win more business class passengers looking to fly to europe and their business class fare is very cheap, $3800.
But not many people fly VN because the old jets they bring to Australia have recliner seat :(
I hope they have the best success because they are going in the right direction with new shiny planes!
They will eventually replace all A330 and B777 with A350 and B787-9, B787-10 also. Very good news huh? The youngest fleet in Asia-Pacific. VN also has many new A321!
Man, what a lovely air craft! I really wished they trial run this plane for the route to Jakarta. Anyway, great report!
Hello, thanks for reading my report. I think VN will not fly A350 or any wide-body aircraft to CGK soon due to demand. Even golden routes such as BKK, SIN, VN also use A321s only. :D
Thanks for the great report! I was booked to fly on VN's new 787 to London a few weeks ago, but of course, it was changed to 777....
I am now booked to try the A350 to Paris in December and I can't wait. You get the same basic seat as Emirates and Etihad for a fraction of the price. I also think that VN's service and food is excellent and considerably better than many top airlines. Hopefully you will try the 787 soon and post a report! :D
I'm sure the food on VN's long haul flight is good! Hope you have good experience with my flag carrier!