Inflight Review : VietJet Air

Inflight Review by : Gan Yung Chyan
                              / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to Everyone

The reporter of this travel news medium embarked on his inaugural VietJet Air flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore on 22 October 2016.

Airline and Routes : VietJet Air operates a fleet of A320 and A321 aircraft in Vietnam and flies to many cities in Asia including Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Siem Reap, Suvarnabhumi, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Taipei, Tainan and Incheon. Its sister airline in Thailand is known as Thai VietJet Air. 

News : VietJet Air is applying to be listed with the Stock Exchange of Hanoi with a 1.2 billion Dollars listing. Its CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao is now a millionaire. On 27 April 2017, it launches scheduled flight between Hanoi and Singapore. There are plans for VietJet Air to expand its route network to include Kota Kinabalu, Manila, Tokyo, Dhaka, Vientiane, Novosibirsk, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Almaty, Dushanbe, Tashkent and Bishkek in the long run.

Livery : The airline logo is a word mark. Yellow and red suggest the Vietnamese heritage colours; yellow the colour of the lotus, Buddhism and red the Communist nation colour.***

Aircraft : The A320 seat legroom is not spacious. **

Baggage Requirements :A carry-on baggage measuring 115 cm in total to be stowed in the overhead compartment and a small item to be stowed under the seat are accepted.***

Safety Demonstrations : Adequate. Onboard an A320 aircraft, there are three kinds of safety cards (see pictures above). This is the first time an aircraft's seats can have more than one type of safety card. However, VietJet Air has previous record of flight arriving at the wrong airport.**

Inflight Magazine  : One 2 FLY! is the only official inflight magazine of VietJet Air. It is the thickest inflight magazine among the LCCs in Asia as it is bilingual in Vietnamese and English throughout.***

Inflight Service / Entertainment / Onboard Meals and Refreshments : The crew provide very good service for a budget flight. There is a short inflight game but there is no so-called "bikini show" onboard the flights. The air crew are decent models. So the Chinese media ought not to label VietJet Air as the "airline with bikini shows onboard". Only hot meals can be pre-ordered online and refreshments like fruit juice can be purchased onboard. Its duffel bag is worth the purchase. ****

Postcard / Stationery : None.  Write on the barf bag.** 

Sky Shop : Available on all flights.***

Surcharges :  Fuel surcharge exists. **

Bookings : VietJet Air competes with Tigerair and Jetstar to offer the lowest prices for flights out of Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City. It allows passengers to apply for changes of routes. It charges around 40 Singapore Dollars for a route change, for instance, in the journalist's case to change from Incheon-Ho Chi Minh City route to Ho Chi Minh City-Singapore route. In contrast, Tigerair charges a fixed amount of 70 Singapore Dollars for a route change while Jetstar charges the exorbitant amount of 600 Singapore Dollars to amend a route. VietJet Air thus holds the lowest cost for a route amendment. Travel itineraries are sent via email from Hanoi (for VietJet Air) and Suvarnabhumi (by Thai VietJet Air). Passengers are required to present the relevant credit card, the itinerary and passport for check-in verification. A passenger can reserve seats on-line for a fee.***

Check-In and Departures : Check-in at international airports three hours before departures. Check-in counter closes one hour before departure. Flights may or may not depart on time.**

Ground service in  response  to passengers' requests and enquiries : Nothing to distribute on the ground outside Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Danang.  It is not easy to get anything from the airline without flying with it. For example, One 2 FLY! is obtainable at Ho Chi Minh City CT Plaza office upon consent by a marketing officer of the airline and it is usually not allowed to be given to the walk-in public. Pre-arranged appointments are advised.**

Overall Impression :  VietJet Air needs to improve its public service, safety image and provide marketing products on the ground outside Vietnam. Set up branch offices in major overseas destinations like Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore so that customers do not need to enquire the airline offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Overall, the airline is a two-star airline.

** Poor / two-star
*** Good / three-star
***** Very good / five-star
****** Excellent / six-star (the highest category)