Vietnam Airlines Airbus A350-900 (BUSINESS) | Hanoi – Osaka | TRIP REPORT

Vietnam Airlines Airbus A350-900 (BUSINESS) | Hanoi – Osaka | TRIP REPORT

[Applause] [Music] Today I’m flying Vietnam Airlines in their Airbus A350-900 business class. Join me as we explore the lounge, the seat, the service, and everything that happened during this very unusual trip. Fancy joining me? Welcome to Fly with Dominic. [Music] Hey guys and beautiful good evening from Hanoi International Airport Terminal 2. Today I’ll be flying all the way to Osaka, Japan with Vietnam Airlines on board their Airbus A350-900 in actually business class. As you can probably guess, I’m pretty much looking forward to this flight. So, let’s head right inside the terminal building in order to get yeah rid of my luggage and also of course to check in. As said, we start at Hanoi’s Noby International Airport, Terminal 2, which is exclusively used for international flights. All domestic flights, which are quite a lot in Vietnam, are being handled in terminal 1. The building is fairly modern and efficient, but as always, it was crowded at peak hours. Checkin itself using the sky priority counter was friendly and professional. However, although this was a Flying Blue Award ticket, advanced seat selection was not possible, neither online nor even after several attempts through the ticket office, which is a serious drawback for a premium ticket, although it may be booked using miles from a different company. All right, as you can see here in my left hand, the check-in is all set. And I got to say that the check-in agent was, as always, just really, really kind. Well, as always when checking in uh with Vietnam Airlines or checking in for a Vietnam Airlines flight. Anyway, um turns out that you also get a priority access to the immigration control and also the security check um which should be written somewhere here on the boarding pass. Let’s find out about that later on. So yeah, I would say let’s write head there and don’t waste any more time in order to extend our potential stay inside the business class launch to the very very maximum. In total, Noai airport handles close to 30 million passengers a year, making it Vietnam’s second busiest airport after Ho Chi Min City. As a business class passenger, I had access to the Vietnam Airlines Lotus Launch. It’s a spacious facility with plenty of seating, quiet corners, and also a huge selection of chilled beverages. As you can see here, take that China eastern Shanghai launch. But the real highlight here is the food. The launch had a very good selection of hot dishes such as chicken skewers or grilled vegetables, but also mushroom soup, which I didn’t know would be typically Vietnamese beforehand, to be honest, as well as boiled eggs, grilled chicken breast, fried rice, even more fried vegetables coming along, some tofu, and much more yet to discover. Additionally, some cold dishes such as a salad bar and even a DIY sandwich station with a nice variety of cold cuts and also some sweet desserts and fruits were available tonight. But best of all, a so-called noodle corner with freshly prepared for soup and very helpful arrangement templates in front. For me, a perfect way to pass some time before a midnight departure. So, of course, I had to prepare one for myself. Also, I didn’t want to miss out on the remaining food options. So, I prepared a second plate with various dishes from the buffet section. And due to the fact that it’s almost midnight, a Coke was also well needed in order to keep my caffeine level high. But now, it was finally time to give this good-looking FA a try. And I’m really sorry for my bad pronunciation, by the way. That was actually amazing. Got to say that. Like, well done, Vietnam Airlines. Well done. Of course, right afterwards, I also had to try the other food options. And what should I say? They were all pretty pretty good. And as we now take a look outside the window, I can tell you that Vietnam Airlines operates its Lotus launches across its hub, including Hanoi, Ho Chi Min City, and Daang. Access is usually available for business class passengers, Sky Team Elite Plus members, and selected partners. And little did I know at this point that this launch would become my home for much longer than expected. But soon enough, it was time to say goodbye and make my way to today’s gate. Boarding began perfectly on schedule and I headed down the jet bridge to today’s Airbus A350-900 aircraft registered as Victor November Alpha 89in1 which has been delivered to Vietnam Airlines just a few years ago. The cabin felt fresh, modern, and quiet with generous overhead storage and a calm color scheme. Seat 6K is part of a reverse herring bone layout in a one configuration. This layout is excellent for privacy and direct AL access and it remains one of my favorites out there. And the onboard service was already up to a good start, but please hear on your own. All right, I literally took my seat like 30 seconds ago and the crew directly um kicked off the yeah onboard service by handing me a cold towel, cold refreshing towel and also a small glass of champagne. So I would say before I will yeah give you a seat tour, it’s time to say cheers. That one’s pretty good actually. Not bad. The seat itself is wide and comfortable with a large if monitor, plenty of storage options, and a flexible headrest, which is certainly on the comfy side. Apart of that, this Lifellight seat offers obviously great leg room. Also, a comfy pillow and a blanket have already been placed at my seat by the ground crew, as well as an amenity kit by Samsonite and some slippers. A thoughtful touch for such a short flight of just 4 and 1/2 hours. To my right is a small magazine compartment with the safety card, a cup holder and universal power outlet, and a foldable table. Above that, you can find the seat control panel, and USB outlet, headphones, and most importantly, a fascinating but rainy view outside the window. At this point, things looked set for an on-time departure, which we also tried not just one, but two times, which means we have received the push back. Taxied all the way to the runway. Went for the first takeoff attempt, which was then quickly aborted. Taxied all the way back to the very beginning of the runway. took the second attempt which was also then quickly aborted and soon enough the captain has also announced that we have been facing a technical issue during takeoff. Ladies and gentlemen, uh captain speaking uh regret to inform that we experiencing the same technical problem as we did previous times. Unfortunately, we’ll have to go back to the parking stand again for troubleshooting. terribly sorry for this inconvenience and thank you for your patience. The exact cause was unfortunately not explained and communication was rather sparse. Passengers were asked to remain seated while technicians tried to fix the issue back at the gate. After some hours of waiting, watching movies, and napping, however, we were asked to disembark the aircraft and return to the terminal. A rare and inconvenience situation, especially at this late hour. Sorry, sir. Cheers. While economy passengers had to remain at the gate, business class travelers were fortunate to be able to go back to the launch, which is luckily open 24/7. That meant more food, drinks, and also a relatively calm place to rest. With little communication from the airline, the hours passed slowly, but still comfortably. Well, hello again from the Vietnam Airlines Lotus launch here in Hanoi. Um unfortunately we just had to disembark the aircraft after yeah I think like 4 hours of waiting inside the aircraft and also with two takeoff attempts. Um so unfortunately yeah we just had to disembark and we also got no further information or anything by the crew or by the gate agents um about when our flight is finally about to take off or if it’s now generally canled and we are getting rebooked. They just told me that I should wait at the Lotus Lodge for additional information. So yeah, that’s what I’m currently doing here. So let’s hope for the best that there will be some information. Quite few quite few. I’m so tired already as you can probably imagine. Um, but you know what the only good thing is, um, if my flight would have been arriving on time in Osaka, I would still have to kill like, I don’t know, 7 hours until I could check into my hotel. Um, which is no longer the case now, probably. But apart of that, it’s pretty disappointing to be honest. But finally, after almost 5 hours, boarding was called again. This time for a morning departure at 6:59. So, it was once again time to leave the launch and head towards the gate. All right, it’s almost 7:00 a.m. right now. As you can probably well hear by my voice and also tell by my face, I’m completely hammered after this night. However, um the boarding has just started once again. So, boarding for my flight to Osaka. Um and we now have a delay of 6 and 1/2 hours already. So yeah, I’m pretty much looking forward to finally get to Osaka. But well, let’s board today’s A350 once again. After getting my boarding pass scanned, I walked through the jet bridge all the way into the business class cabin of the very same aircraft, at least during daytime conditions now, which is certainly better for filming. In the meantime, while technicians were fixing the aircraft, the cabin has been freshened up. So, not only a fresh pillow and blanket, but also a different amenity kit was waiting for me. All right, once again, I finally made it to today’s seat. 6K. And also, once again, it only took, yeah, roughly like 30 seconds until I yeah, got the refreshment towel and also a welcome drink in form of an orange juice by the cabin crew. And talking about the cabin crew, it’s actually exactly the same as on the first attempt of this flight. Um, which was like, yeah, 6 and 1/2 hours ago, which is kind of strange. And I’m also pretty pretty sure that this would not be possible uh in the European Union with the applicable Aasa regulations, but I will probably double check on that. But I’m I’m pretty sure that well after already taxiing two times um they should have already been falling out of the time in the European Union. Not sure how things are being handled here in Southeast Asia. And soon enough, it was time to get those seat belts securely fastened as we were taxiing to the oneway for the third time. By the way, Vietnam Airlines operates 14 Airbus A350-900s, mainly on routes to Europe, Japan, Korea, and Australia. Today’s A350 joined the fleet in 2017 and is configured with 305 seats, 29 in business, 45 in premium economy, and 231 in economy class. But now it’s time for today’s very first successful takeoff run of this aircraft. [Music] Dear passengers, suppress sign has been turned off. While seated, please keep your seat belts fastened at all times in case of unexpected turbulence. Smoking is strictly prohibited, including zero sub cigarettes at any times. Once airborne, it was time to get some well-needed rest before the cabin crew would kick off the onboard service. This, however, happened quite quickly. All right, about 30 minutes into the flight, the cabin crew has finally kicked off the breakfast service. And being honest, I’m slightly disappointed because it seems like they have switched the catering um options or the the menu options in the meantime while the aircraft was AOG. Um, so the Japanese breakfast was no longer available and I now had to go with a Korean style um toki uh with beef I think so at least which was not a change for the good as it looks. But enough of complaining. For Maine, we got served some sort of a topoki beef stew with vegetables. Coming along a croissant and two pieces of garlic bread. This was accompanied by some coffee cream, fancy salt and pepper dispensers, chili paste for the main dish, a small bowl of kimchi, and an even smaller bowl of a cashew nut salad, which I have certainly never seen before. Drink-wise, I opted for another glass of orange juice as well as a cup of tea. It seriously looks like they have just catered this aircraft with meal for a flight to Busan or Seoul. But let’s kick off this breakfast with a zip of the orange juice. Food-wise, the kimchi did not only look pretty good, but also tasted very authentic, just as on the streets of Soul. The cashew nut salad, however, was a little strange for my German taste buds and lacked a little bit of flavor. But now, let’s try one of my favorite items, which couldn’t miss on any decent flight in business class, the garlic bread, which turned out to be very crispy and just delicious. And finally, the topoki beef stew turned out to be some sort of a low light. The beef was certainly decent, but the topoki was hard as a stone, unfortunately. Once finished eating, it was time to take a closer look at the levatory, which was clean and modern. Nothing too fancy, but in good condition. Arriving back at my messy seat, the crew has already removed my meal dishes and left another hot towel. I think it is worth to be mentioned that today’s cabin crew remained a high level of service and were always asking me for further drink orders, although they were probably just as tired as I was. But let’s talk about the if system which can be controlled with this wired controller. Vietnam Airlines if system on the Airbus A350 is excellent large screen high resolution and wide choice of movies and TV shows featuring all kind of languages as well as a small selection of music. The seat itself featured a reading light, a controls panel with advanced options and decent on-ear headphones which have been individually wrapped initially. Looking out the window, we passed over parts of China and the East China Sea before approaching Japan. After a little more than 3 and 1/2 hours in the air, we began our descent into Osaka Kansai Airport. Built on an artificial island, Kansai is definitely one of Japan’s most unique airports. [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, hey. Despite the comfortable flight, we arrived more than 6 hours behind schedule. So, it’s time to sum up the past flight experience. Despite the lengthy delay, Vietnam Airlines delivered a decent business class product coming along a nice launch, excellent seating, attentive service, improvable, but still definitely acceptable catering, and a comfortable overall experience, except for the huge delay and the communication, of course. So, this video is maybe kind of a reminder that even when things don’t go as planned, a solid onboard product and especially a nice crew can still make the difference. But anyway, disembarkation was quick and orderly with business class passengers off first. Have a nice day. No worries about that. Cheers. So, finally, it is time to say thank you for joining me on this rather unusual trip from Hanoi to Osaka with Vietnam Airlines. If you enjoyed this report, please make sure to leave a like and also a subscription if you haven’t yet, and stay tuned for the next journey. See you on board very soon. Cheers.

In today’s Trip Report I am flying from Hanoi Noi Bai to Osaka Kansai with Vietnam Airlines on board their Airbus A350-900 in Business Class.
So please make sure to have your seatbelt securely fastened, put your backrest in an upright position, grab yourself a glass of champagne and enjoy the video!

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— FLIGHT INFORMATION —
✈ Airline: Vietnam Airlines
✈ Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
✈ Registration: VN-A891
✈ Seat: 6K
✈ Flight Time: 4 hours 35 minutes
✈ Flight Number: VN 334
✈ Route: Hanoi Noi Bai (HAN) – Osaka Kansai (KIX)
✈ Cabin Class: Business
✈ Fare Type: FlyingBlue Award Ticket
✈ Date: April 2024

— EQUIPMENT —
✈ DJI Pocket 2
✈ DJI Action Cam
✈ Adobe Premiere Pro
✈ Adobe Photoshop
✈ MacBook Air 2025 M4

— COLLABORATION DISCLAIMER —
This video does not contain product placements. I paid the ticket on my own and the airline was neither involved or informed about the production of this video.

— MUSIC —
Music from #InAudio: https://inaudio.org/
Bamboo – Infraction.

— COPYRIGHT —
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