Today I’m reviewing Vietjet Air, Vietnam’s low cost airline on a flight from Đà Nẵng to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Vietjet Air have revolutionised air travel in Vietnam, lowering costs acrross the board. Before Vietjet arrived Vietnam Airlines where the only operator on most routes, and the prices were exhorbitant. However, once factoring in paying for extra baggage and seating, this one way flight cost £75 per person. That’s not exactly cheap, espcially considering a previous one way flight with Vietnam Airlines I took only cost £42. And that included luggage and had a vastly superior seat. So in this Vietjet Air review I’ll see if they’re worth the money, or an airline you should avoid. I also did a Youtube review, so feel free to check that out below!
Vietjet Air Overview
Vietjet Air are actually the first privately owned Vietnamese Airline. They’ve experienced massive growth since being founded in 2007 and currently have over 80 aircraft. Most of those being the Airbus A321 which I was flying on today. Impressively they also have a further 300+ aircraft on order, showing just how quickly they expect to grow. And most of those new orders are for the Boeing 737 Max.
It’s fair to say Vietjet Air revolutionised air travel in Vietnam. Before their founding, Vietnam Airlines where the only operator on a lot of routes and air travel was extremely expensive. Now, thanks to Vietjet Air and other low cost carriers, far more Vietnamese people can afford air travel. The Vietjet Air motto is “bay là thích ngay!” Which doesn’t exactly translate into English, but means something like “Enjoy Flying”.
Da Nang Airport
Da Nang Airport has two terminals, a domestic terminal and international terminal. They are side by side and the entrances are relatively close together so there’s no issues getting between the two. Our flight today to Saigon was obviously a domestic flight so we headed to the domestic terminal (terminal 1). Both of Da Nang Airport’s terminal’s are relatively new, the domestic opening in 2011 and international opening in 2017.
Despite their newness though, I don’t think the domestic terminal is designed especially well. It was functional enough when we visited but definitely felt dated already. And the gate management was apalling. Our flight had a last minute gate change and 1 hour delay, which I’ll discuss later on. But on top of that I also noticed 2 more flights having last minute gate changes in the 2 hours we were at the airport. That doesn’t seem like a good record considering the relatively low number of flights departing at that time.
I will say though, a positive of this airport is how close it is to the city centre. Less than 10 minutes taxi ride (traffic dependant) to the centre. And only about 15 minutes from the beach where we were staying. Incidently we stayed at the Pullman Danang Beach Resort, which is a great hotel with a lovely beach and awesome location.
The Plane & Seat
Our plane today was a 2016-built Airbus A321-200 registered VN-A535. And immediately stepping on board I was struck by how familiar it felt. That wasn’t a coincidence however, as it turns out this specific aircraft was owned by Thomas Cook Airlines before they went bankrupt in 2019. Vietjet Air then took the aircraft but haven’t made any changes to the interior. They even put sticker over some of the old Thomas Cook branding.
If you’re British like me and have been on a cheap package holiday in Europe there’s a good chance it would have been with Thomas Cook. Though it turns out this was a bad thing, as the old Thomas Cook planes had terrible seats. The seat pitch (distance between each seat) is 28″ which is about the lowest you’ll be able to find on any airline. This means leg room is terrible, even for a short person like me. The seat was also very hard and uncomfortable. Basically all the bad things about budget airlines combined.
However, Vietjet Air’s main fleet that has been fitted with their own interior does have a marginally better seat. Some variants still have 28″ pitch but others have anywher from 30-32″ which is pretty generous. I’ve not had a chance to test it but am pretty certain it’s better than my seat on today’s flight.
The Food
This was a pretty short flight, so I definitely didn’t need a meal. But it was so cheap I decided to order one anyway. For $4.45 I got Singaporean Noodles, some cashew nuts and a bottle of water. Surprisingly it was actually quite good as far as airline meals go. Of course it was processed and microwaved to the temperature of the Sun. But you get very good value for money here. In fact it was better than both meals I had in Singapore Airlines Economy from London to Singapore.
The inflight menu was also extensive. There’s a range of hot meals you can order ahead of time. And on the flight itself you can have your pick of hot meals, sandwiches, snack and drinks. They even sell bourbon biscuits which I definitely didn’t expect to see on a low cost airline in Vietnam. They do cost $3 for a small packet though, but I guess that’s the price of importing them. So overall quite a good selection of inflight food and drink from Vietjet Air. Obviously it’s not the highest quality, but it’s cheap and filling.
They also sell a whole bunch of Vietjet branded merch, such as plane models and even a Vietjet Air uniform for your children.
Everything Else
There’s not really much else to say after such a short flight. The cabin crew seemed friendly enough. But all their service seemed very curt, as if they were trying to serve people as quickly as possible. Though on a plane of over 200 people on a 1 hour flight that’s understandable. I can say the same for the check-in staff at the airport. Relatively efficient but definitely not the “service with a smile” type.
My main issue with today’s flight lies with the last minute gate change and 1 hour+ delay. The original gate was annouced well ahead of time and all the passengers were waiting there. The display boards even showed our flight being at that gate. But then the boarding time came and went. And as we approached the departure time an announcement said the gate had changed. So everybody rushed over to the new gate. Luckily I was near the back of the original queue, which meant I was one of the first to arrive at the new gate as the end of the queue was closer. But still, it was just added stress and confusion and it’s never fun being delayed for an hour.
Finally, the amount extra they charge for luggage kind of kicks them out of the realm of low cost carriers in my opinion. Whilst you can get very cheap flights on some routes, this was not one of them and the same flight with Vietnam Airlines would have been slightly cheaper. And as I mentioned in another review, I really liked Vietnam Airlines and they have one of the best short haul Economy seats I’ve ever sat in.
Final Thoughts
Overall I’m not impressed by Vietjet Air. It’s fine for budget carriers to reduce service quality to offer a lower price. And Vietjet Air do seem to do this on some routes. However, for my flight from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City today, once factoring in baggage cost, it actually ended up being more expensive than the very good Vietnam Airlines. For that you get one of the most cramped seats of any airline. Ryanair seats feel spacious in comparison. The last minute gate change and 1 hour delay also didn’t help improve my opinion of Vietjet Air.
I suppose it’ll be interesting to see how Vietjet Air expand in the future and what routes they’ll add, especially in the long haul department. But for now, I don’t plan on flying Vietjet Air again.
More from me…
If you liked my Vietjet Air Review, please feel free to check out other related posts I’ve written:
- Singapore Airlines Fantastic Regional Business – Saigon to Singapore on a 787-10
- Singapore Airlines Economy from London to Singapore – As Good as People Say?
- Vietnam Airlines Economy Refreshing Airbus A321 Trip Report
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