BOOKING INFORMATION
I paid extra for checked baggage allowance of 30kg (66lbs) and for an extra legroom seat of which only the first row offers that option; the next four rows you could pay extra for just because they are nearer the exit. The ticket came out to $84.54 per person. A very reasonable rate.
CHECK-IN / WALK TO GATE
Had a short walk from the drop-off point to the ticket counter. Not much of a line and cruised through security in record time. Very easy process.
DA NANG Plane Spotting
I saw two Vietnamese Air Force Sukhoi Su-22s and Mil Mi-8s (I think) while taxiing and of course the usual Vietjet Air, Vietnam Airlines, our own Jetstar Pacific plane and a HK Express airbus.
GATE / WALK TO PLANE
There wasn't a lounge available for the airline or PriorityPass card-holders within the Domestic Terminal. We passed by a Burger King which was the only western restaurant option. The Gate 11 boarding gate was downstairs (tarmac-level) and only offered two souvenir shops and a men's and women's restroom. Not that great of plane-spotting opportunities down there. The bus took us out to the stair-truck where we boarded the plane.
CABIN AND SEAT
The cabin was clean; doesn't hurt that the plane was only a year-old. The plane was an Airbus A320. The first row offered plenty of space to stretch out legs. Seat 1C and 1D aren't ideal because you will be looking at the flight attendants on take-off and landing. The in-flight entertainment was their own magazine, with roughly half the articles in Vietnamese.
MENU AND MEAL
You could pre-order Vietnamese sticky rice with mung beans, steamed chicken breast with vermicelli, vegetarian rice noodle, special mixed fried rice, or cream puffs. We skipped on those meals though. The pics below were the menu taken from the in-flight magazine. I didn't see many takers but the food actually smelled pretty good.
ARRIVAL
Another airport and another stair-truck for the budget airline. The bus took us to the baggage claim where there were only two carousels and it wasn't a long wait and we picked up a Grab ride just outside the departures terminal.
I was puzzled by the name of the airline - it turns out to be the original name, before it became part of Jetstar.
These were Su-22 and Mil Mi-8, indeed
Thanks for sharing !
Hello ST86, and thanks for a look at an airline I haven’t seen before.
Too bad about the lack of amenities or spotting opportunities in the domestic terminal. Very cool spotting, though, once you were onboard, with the military planes and helicopter.
The cabin looks fine for a short flight on an LCC. I do appreciate that there are hot food items for sale on LCCs in Asia, and the items on the menu look somewhat interesting.
While those ticket prices are very reasonable in European or US terms, I am rather surprised with those prices to be honest. Knowing the prices for domestic flights in Southeast Asia, I usually don't end up paying more than 55 $ with these upgrades. Though thanks for sharing this report!