Vietnam Airlines revealed that it is upgrading one of its three daily Airbus A321 services between Ho Chi Minh and Singapore with an Airbus A350 from 31 March 2019.
This aircraft features 29 flat-bed seats in Business Class, as compared to the 16 recliner seats offered on the current A321, meaning the airline will soon offer a long-haul product all the way to destinations such as London, Frankfurt and Tokyo with a single stop from Singapore.
The schedule
Vietnam Airlines flies three times daily between Ho Chi Minh and Singapore. From 31 March 2019, the evening service of VN656/VN657 will be operated by the Airbus A350-941 in 29J/276Y configuration, as highlighted in the following schedule.
From 31st March 2019
Two Business Class seat types
Vietnam Airlines intended to fit a common Business Class seat to its new Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 aircraft – the popular Zodiac Cirrus seat in a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone layout. It’s the same long-haul Business Class seat now used by many airlines, including Cathay Pacific, albeit with different customisation.
As one of the first customers for the A350 though, Vietnam Airlines got caught up with the Zodiac delivery delays issue. That meant in order to stick to the original delivery schedule the airline had to source a different seat for its first four A350 aircraft – the Stelia Solstys.
These have a staggered 1-2-1 layout with A and K seats alternating between positions closer to the window (as pictured above, at rows 2, 4, 6 and 8) or closer to the aisle (at rows 1, 3, 5 and 7).
The remaining eight aircraft delivered since those first four have the intended Cirrus seat, as pictured below.
Check out these recent reviews of the Business Class cabins for each seat type:
- Stelia Seats – One Mile at a Time
- Cirrus Seats – Live and Let’s Fly
Vietnam Airlines, a member of SkyTeam Alliance, is the national flag carrier of Vietnam, operating 90 routes to 20 domestic and 29 international destinations with an average of 400 flights per day. With growth rate in passenger traffic at 19% in 2016, Vietnam Airlines is the fastest growing flag carrier in Southeast Asia and one of the fastest growing full-service airlines globally.
In 2015, Vietnam Airlines became the second airline in the world to operate both next-generation aircraft Boeing 787-9 & Airbus A350 at the same time. In July 2016, Vietnam Airlines received a 4-Star Airline Certificate from Skytrax, the world’s leading airline and airport rating organization.
In 2018, Vietnam Airlines ranked 14th among the 20 best premium class airlines in the world also by Skytrax and awarded the “Asia Pacific Airline of the year” by CAPA. This achievement is the result of the organisation’s tireless devotion and commitment across a range of product and service areas.
Source : Routeonline
