Today I’ll be reviewing Vietnam Airlines Economy seat in their Airbus A321. My flight was from Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport in Northern Vietnam to Da Nang in Central Vietnam. With a short flight time of 1h 21m there wasn’t all that much to experience, however, what I did see was very good. Especially their seat which is extremely comfy and spacious for a short haul flight like this. Read this article to find out if Vietnam Airlines is worth the price, and please watch my Youtube Video below for the full experience.
Hanoi Airport
Hanoi’s Nội Bài International Airport is Vietnam’s second largest airport after Saigon. Terminal 1 was opened in 2001 and is used for domestic flights whilst the newer Terminal 2 was opened in 2015 and is used for international flights. Da Nang is obviously a domestic flight so I took the roughly 20 minute taxi to terminal 1.
The domestic terminal is the smaller of Hanoi’s two terminals with an annual capacity of 9 million passengers. It doesn’t win any awards as far as airports go but it’s very functional. Bag drop, security and navigating within the terminal was all very efficient. There’s a surprisingly good selection of lounges if you’re travelling business or have Priority Pass. And lastly there is a lot of food, shopping and seating to be had.
The Plane and Seat
The Vietnam Airlines fleet is quite modern, comprising of just 3 aircraft types with an average age of 8.2 years as of April 2023. For long haul (or higher demand short haul) routes they use the Airbus A350-900 and Boeing 787-9/10. And for short haul routes they use the Airbus A321 which I was travelling on today. Specifically a 10 year old Airbus A321-200 registered VN-A396. The Vietnam Airlines Airbus A321 has 16 Business Class seats and 162 or 168 Economy seats depending on configuration.
The Vietnam Airlines Economy seat is without a doubt one of the comfiest economy seats I’ve sat in. And that’s including long haul too. With a generous 32″ of pitch there is plenty of leg room. For comparison Vietjet Air, their main competitor in Vietnam, have only 28″ seat pitch. The seat is very well padded with a nice lotus leaf pattern to show off the national flower of Vietnam. There is no adjustable headrest but it is well padded. And whilst the design feels a bit dated to me, it was very clean and felt relatively new.
Lastly, all of Vietnam Airlines A321s have a 3-3 configuration in economy class, but there are plenty of exit row seats with additional leg room. With seat selection being so affordable on Vietnam Airlines these seats are probably well worth the cost. I paid £3 extra to select seat 19A.
Food & Service
This was only an hour long flight so there wasn’t time for full meal service. However, in Economy every passenger gets a small bottle of water. And I preordered a bubble tea for £1.80. It tasted pretty average, but I was just intrigued by the novelty of being able to get bubble tea on a flight. The cabin crew also come through with a trolley if you want to buy some drinks and snacks.
I didn’t really interact much with the cabin crew as there wasn’t really any reason too besides getting our drinks. However, they seemed very polite and welcomed everybody on board so no complaints there. The Vietnam Airlines uniform is also a traditional Vietnamese áo dài. It’s nice to see a national airline embracing its heritage, and it’s quite a cool looking outfit.
Final Thoughts
So overall, at just £42 for the one way flight, £3 for the seat selection and £1.80 for the bubble tea, I think this flight was a very good deal. It boarded perfectly on time, the service was good and the seat was one of the best I’ve experienced. So overall I highly recommend Vietnam Airlines Economy product and will definitely fly with them again the next time I’m in Vietnam.
More from me…
Please feel free to check out other related posts I’ve written:
- Singapore Airlines Economy from London to Singapore – As Good as People Say?
- British Airways Club Europe London to Geneva – Another “business class” short haul flight
- Norse Atlantic Airways Premium from London to Oslo – Another unique widebody flight within Europe
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