Review of Lao Airlines flight Ho Chi Minh City Vientiane in Economy

Airline Lao Airlines
Flight QV516
Class Economy
Seat 12A
Aircraft ATR 72-500
Flight time 03:50
Take-off 25 Dec 18, 12:10
Arrival at 25 Dec 18, 16:00
QV 24 reviews
vinavia
By 807
Published on 4th October 2019

Hi guys. Welcome to my next report on Flight-Report. Today, I would fly with Lao Airlines from Ho Chi Minh City to Vientiane, transit at Pakse on ATR 72-500. But first, please check out my trip reports about this flight on YouTube. These videos are more detailed than the script version on Flight-Report and has more special things there, so I hope you guys will check out, like the videos and support to my channel by subscribe Vinavia on YouTube :D    


Unlike my other reports on Flight-Report, in this trip report, I will break it into 2 parts:


Routing

  • Part 1: Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) - Pakse (PKZ) You are here
  • Part 2: Pakse (PKZ) - Vientiane (VTE) You are here

And here is the script report. Hope you guys will enjoy :D


Part 1: Ho CHI MINH CITY (SGN) - Pakse (PKZ)




Today's flight would start at Terminal 2, Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City.


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Let's go inside the terminal.


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Departure hall of the terminal.


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Today, I would fly on flight QV516 to Vientiane, transit at Pakse, and the estimated departure time would be 12:00 pm.


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Lao Airlines' check-in counter


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Check-in was done, and my luggage had been checked. The check-in staff said that my luggaged will be send directly to Vientiane. Now I went through the immigation and the security check to get into airside. 


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20 minutes later, I finally made it into the the airside. Now I went to the departure gate of this flight.


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Gate 25 is the gate that I was heading to…


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… and I have to go downstairs to get to the gate.


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The waiting area


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The gate for this flight was gate 25, which is a bus gate. 


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Boarding was called, and I had to get on the bus, to go to the apron where the aircraft is parked.


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Here was the aircraft for this flight. The registration of this ATR 72 is RDPL-34176, and it was 8.1 years old.


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Boarding


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My seat on this flight was 12A.


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Legroom was pretty decent to me, quite spacious actually.


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Tray table


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View from my window, and cabin view from my seat.


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About 10 minutes after boarding, the aircraft started to pushback and taxi to the runway.


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Take-off



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20 minutes after take-off, snack boxes were served.


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Here was the snack box. Let's open this box to see what did I have inside this box.


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Tuna, corn, and pineapple sandwich.


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And pandan roll cake.


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Drinks were served after that. I asked for a cup of Sprite.


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Overall, the snack box was great and delicious. The sandwich fillings may looked bizarre and weird, but actually, it was pretty nice. I was quite surprised at how tasty it was.


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In the seat pocket, I had: a sickness bag, a safety card, and an inflight magazine of Lao Airlines called Meuanglao.


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Cabin view and view from my window during the flight.


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After about 1 hour and 15 minutes in the air, the aircraft started to descend and prepared to land.  


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Landing



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Disembarkation



Welcome to Pakse International Airport. At here, I would do the immigarion procedure to enter Laos, then transit at this place for about 45 minutes. During this time, the flight would get more passengers to continue its journey to Vientiane. For passengers who consider Pakse as their final destionation, they can get theirr luggages here and leave this airport.


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Part 2: PAKSE (PKZ) - Vientiane (VTE)



After my immigration procedure was done, I went to the exit gate to the landside area, and the departure hall of the terminal.


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Departure hall of the terminal


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Then I headed directly to the security check to enter the waiting area.


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The waiting area


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Shortly after I entered the waiting area, boarding was called, and I went back to the aircraft for this flight, which was RDPL-34176.



My seat was remained the same like the last flight: seat 12A.


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View from my window, and cabin view from my seat.


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About 20 minutes after boarding, the aircraft started to pushback and taxi to the runway.


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Take-off



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20 minutes after take-off, snacks were served.


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And I got a small packet of dried fruits.


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For drink, I asked for a cup of water.


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The fried fruits were absolutely delicious. I definitely fall in love with that <3


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Let's have a quick look at the lavatory. Like on many other ATR aircrafts, the lavatory is really small. But this lavatory was pretty clean and well-equipped.


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Cabin view and view from my window during the flight.


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After about 1 hour in the air, the aircraft started to descend and prepared to land.  


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Landing



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Disembarkation



My journey had ended at Domestic Terminal, Wattay International Airport, Vientiane. Thank you for reading and watching, and see you in the next report :D


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See more

Verdict

Lao Airlines

7.6/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew8.5
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Meal/catering8.0

Ho Chi Minh City - SGN

6.8/10
Efficiency7.0
Access6.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness6.0

Vientiane - VTE

6.8/10
Efficiency7.5
Access6.0
Services6.5
Cleanliness7.0

Conclusion

Both flights were super fantastic. I can say that it was my best flights I have ever had on ATR 72. The flights departed on time, the cabin were clean and tidy, the food was tasty, and the crews were really friendly and helpful, which reflected the warm Lao hospitality from Lao people.

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