Flying Vietnam Airlines A321 (Oct 2019)

How did the trip come about?

In October 2019, we were heading to Japan for Rugby World Cup. Our match tickets determined that we would be spending our time in Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan, and we set about planning our flights three months prior.

Why Vietnam Airlines?

Fukuoka, Kyushu’s largest city, is the natural gateway to Kyushu and the direct flight on Singapore Airlines was naturally the best option. However, I didn’t quite see the value of paying Singapore Airlines around 1,000 SGD per person for economy class.

The cheapest fare was on AirAsia X, which was asking for around 400+ SGD per person with stop either at Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok (seat-only, with no food or luggage). Next up was Vietnam Airlines’ price of 482 SGD in economy class, which came with meals and check-in luggage. It was no-brainer that Vietnam Airlines was the better deal.

Choosing between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi

Vietnam Airlines (IATA code: VN) is the flag carrier of Vietnam and a member of SkyTeam alliance. Its two major hubs Hanoi (HAN) and Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) meant that we could route through either of them.

Since there would be a change of plane we planned to spend half a day in Vietnam before continuing onwards to Japan. We deliberately chose a 11-hour layover in Ho Chi Minh City based on the following reasons: –

1. Flight timings between Vietnam and Japan: The flight time between Hanoi and Fukuoka is 3h40m while it’s 4h55m between Ho Chi Minh City and Fukuoka. It meant that we had the longer flight red-eye flight, which theoretically allowed us to rest for longer.
2. Distance from airport to city centre: Noi Bai Airport is at least an hour’s drive away from Hanoi’s city centre while Tan Son Nhat Airport is a much closer 20 to 30 minutes’ drive in good traffic to Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1.
3. Most of us would be visiting Ho Chi Minh City for the first time: Although 3 out of 4 of us travelled to Vietnam previously, I was the only one who had been to Ho Chi Minh City.

Flight 1: Singapore – Ho Chi Minh City (5 Oct 2019)

Vietnam Airlines was operating out of Changi Airport Terminal 4 (T4) when we travelled in October 2019.

However, T4 has closed temporarily since 16 May 2020 because of low flight volume due to COVID-19 and VN has shifted its operations to Terminal 3.

Being the newest terminal opened in October 2017, T4 was definitely aesthetically pleasing.

Unlike the other three terminals whose security checks were at the gates, passengers would pass through security immediately after passport control. It also meant that passengers had more time to dine and shop before the flight.

The downside of T4 is that it’s not directly connected to the other terminals by Skytrains and if arriving at the airport by MRT, one requires another shuttle bus ride from Terminal 2.

After our usual meal at T4’s Heavenly Wang, we headed to the gate for boarding.

Out of Vietnam Airlines’ 102 aircraft, Airbus A321s make up the bulk of them with 70 planes. With range up to 3,200nm, it is the stretched version of the popular A320 family and can carry up to 203 passengers.

A321s are the workhorses for VN’s short and medium-haul routes and all our flights would be on them.

The first sector between Singapore  would be on VN-A603, delivered to Vietnam Airlines in May 2013.

Flight number: VN650

Depart: Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) 13:30

Arrive: Ho Chi Minh Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN) 14:20

Duration: 2h10m

Distance: 680nm

Aircraft type / registration: Airbus A321-232 / VN-A603

I did my usual inspection of the seat pocket and found the inflight magazine Heritage, A321 safety card and a barf bag printed with B787 and A350, VN’s two newest aircraft types which are employed on its longer routes.

As it was a short flight, the crew got going with serving lunch as soon as the seatbelt sign went off. There were two choices:

Chicken noodles

Or minced pork rice

With no individual inflight entertainment, I alternated between reading the magazine and looking out of the window.

The first sight of Mekong Delta from the plane

Tan Son Nhat Airport is surrounded by built-up area and the buildings felt really near when we were descending.

It took us around 50 minutes to disembark, clear immigration and change money before heading for our 11-hour layover in Ho Chi Minh City.

Flight 2: Ho Chi Minh City – Fukuoka (6 Oct 2019)

We returned to the airport well in time for our 00:05 flight to Fukuoka. Our flight got remote gate and we got to board VN-A362 through the rear door.

Flight number: VN350

Depart: Ho Chi Minh Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN) 00:05

Arrive: Fukuoka Airport (FUK) 07:00

Duration: 4h55m

Distance: 2,179nm

Aircraft type / registration: Airbus A321-232 / VN-A362

I tried my best to catch as much sleep as possible before breakfasts were served 1.5 hours before landing.

Again two choices: Asian meal of roasted chicken with honey

Or Japanese meal of stir-fried pork

Honestly I couldn’t remember much of the flight so maybe it was a good thing.

We were happy to finally arrive in Fukuoka; in fact my friend Q was so excited that he forgot his watch after washing his face in the washroom. He only realised after clearing the customs and needed assistance from the ever-helpful Japanese airport staff to retrieve it from the secure zone.

Flight 3: Fukuoka – Ho Chi Minh City (13 Oct 2019)

After a great week in Japan, we set off early for our trip home. While Typhoon Hagibis was ravaging many parts of Japan during our stay, Kyushu was blissfully spared.

However, Q’s domestic flight was affected and he had difficulty trying to sort it out the day before. Hence he traveled with us to the airport and managed to get himself rebooked on an afternoon flight.

We spent our last yen buying the souvenirs at the airport shop before our flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Unfortunately, as we would be transiting in Vietnam, the staff told us that we wouldn’t be able to buy any items with liquids, including Ichiran instant ramen.

Saw the AirAsia X A333 (9M-XXB) wrapped with colours of Girls’ Frontline, a Chinese mobile RPG game. We might have been on this plane to KUL instead.

Another VN A321 bound for HAN was taxiing in the background.

Flight number: VN351

Depart: Fukuoka Airport (FUK) 07:55

Arrive: Ho Chi Minh Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN) 11:15

Duration: 5h20m

Distance: 2,179nm

Aircraft type / registration: Airbus A321-232 / VN-A365

Interestingly, there was a menu in the seat pocket, something that I didn’t recall seeing on the earlier flight.

Beverage menu

The Asian option of fish with rice

Japanese option of sauteed pork (with packet of snack mix on the left)

It was one looooong 5+-hour flight without any individual inflight entertainment and I was glad that I pre-downloaded some shows on Netflix the night before. Q, who would return from Tokyo a few days after, got to travel on A350 which had individual IFE.

Flight 4: Ho Chi Minh City – Singapore (13 Oct 2019)

We had around three hours between flights in Ho Chi Minh City and suddenly the direct Singapore Airlines’ flight seemed like a much better idea.

Ended up killing some time eating a rather expensive bowl of pho (174,000 VND or 10 SGD) at Big Bowl before proceeding to the gate.

Flight number: VN655

Depart: Ho Chi Minh Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN) 14:10

Arrive: Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) 17:25

Duration: 2h15m

Distance: 680nm

Aircraft type / registration: Airbus A321-232 / VN-A602

No other pictures beside the inflight meals; just wanted to quickly get home.

Pork with steamed rice

Chicken noodles meal

Thoughts on Vietnam Airlines

Vietnam Airlines offered a very competitive price between Singapore and Fukuoka, comparable to what budget airlines such as AirAsia X were charging.

Meals-wise, the portions were pretty generous and quality were acceptable. In terms of service, the crew were competent although I didn’t recall any to be exemplary.

The lack of IFE on their A321s was a major bugbear; it is always good to be prepared with your own (with power bank), especially on the long flights such as the day-time one between Fukuoka and Ho Chi Min City

Interestingly, Vietnam Airlines was actually the seventh Southeast Asian flag carrier that I flew on, after Singapore, Garuda, Malaysia, Thai, Royal Brunei and Lao. Perhaps someday I would fly Philippine, Myanmar National and Cambodia Angkor to complete them all.

Route Map

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper -copyright © Karl L. Swartz.

Airline: Vietnam Airlines

Route: Singapore (SIN) – Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) – Fukuoka (FUK) – Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) – Singapore (SIN)

Class: Economy

Cost: 482 SGD per person (booked through Expedia)