Opinions on Air Mekong?

Last activity 05 February 2013 by Jaitch

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USCTrojansMember31 December 2012 05:07:00

Hi all,

I'm looking at flying out to Phu Quoc from HCM for a day or so. I see 3 airlines serve the route:

- Vietnam Airlines, on ATR-72 prop planes;
- VietJet, on Airbus 320s;
- Air Mekong, on new CRJ-900 regional jets.

Do any of you have any experience with Air Mekong? I've flown Vietnam Air to Hanoi before, with no problems (but on a widebody) and I know they are generally up to standard. They have 3-5 flights a day to Phu Quoc.

My cousins have warned me away from VietJet, if only because of common delayed/canceled flight issues. Only 1 daily flight to Phu Quoc.

Air Mekong looks like a relatively new company so little info in terms of review of service. They are cheaper than Vietnam Air by 250.000-450.000d, so if there aren't delay issues I'd want to try them out! (Safety isn't so much the concern, the jets are only 3-4 years old and are from Skywest in the US). 1-3 flights a day (Phu Quoc is their home base).

Thanks!

JaitchGuest31 December 2012 05:53:31

214245

I fly either VietNam Airlines or Air Mekong to Buon Ma Thuot whenever I don't drive.

VietNam Airlines is like doing business with any government body - and as with any national carrier they think you are lucky to be allowed aboard.

Air Mekong is like a breath of fresh air. The understand they are to service passengers. After a couple of flights (to the same destination) the crew even remembers your name.

VietJet is best known for having a bikini show on one of it's first flights and for being unreliable for keeping time - important if you are trying to make a departure from TSN overseas.

TripAdvisor has some reviews - basically similar experiences to mine.

If any carrier can't make a departure they have arrangements to use another carrier, so you will never get stuck!

Andrei HCMCActive member31 December 2012 05:56:21

Hi, just experienced the 2 flights from HCMC to Con Dao. The outbound flight has been changed the schedule 2 times, so finally switched to VN as having more convenient schedule. No change on the flight back. In comparison with VN, the aircraft is more comfortable with Air Mekong. Both pilots were Western looking (did not see the pilots of VN). As a matter of fact, VN is not the fliht operator to Con Dao, the aircrafts are run by another company.

JaitchGuest05 February 2013 00:13:26

214245

Andrei HCMC wrote:
As a matter of fact, VN is not the flight operator to Con Dao, the aircrafts are run by another company.

Might have it been VASCO - the government owned specialist carrier that handles certain destinations?

Andrei HCMCActive member05 February 2013 00:21:08

Jaitch wrote:
Might have it been VASCO - the government owned specialist carrier that handles certain destinations?

Could be, I don't remember now!

vanhMember05 February 2013 00:34:57

I have flew with Air Mekong several times before, I think their service is better than Vietnam Airlines.

JaitchGuest05 February 2013 02:00:39

214245

vanh wrote:
I have flew with Air Mekong several times before, I think their service is better than Vietnam Airlines.

VietNam Airlines is your typical government owned airline - and the government micromanages the air industry here. Very few government owned airlines anywhere perform like privately owned carriers. Compare freelance AirAsia and Singy-owned Tiger.

They even had JetStar change their aircraft logo's and advertising.

And VN Airlines has an interest in the aircraft fuel supply company - guess who gets the best service? And the best credit terms!

VASCO, and Northern Air Services, are both government owned, and they both fly those aeronautical noise makers you hear in the skies over TP HCM and Ha Noi. They are Russian built helicopters whose numbers slowly decrease as accidents happen.

Nothing beats a free market place.

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