Hi and welcome! This is the fifth part in a series of nine trip reports. You can find parts I, II, III and IV here:
SWISS_FIRST_CLASS: Zürich > Bangkok (1/9) (by Knightsofmalta Sep 15 2012 in Trip Reports)

ROYAL_JORDANIAN_BUSINESS_CLASS: BKK > KUL (2/9) (by Knightsofmalta Sep 21 2012 in Trip Reports)

Egypt_Air_Business_Class: KUL > BKK (3/9) (by Knightsofmalta Sep 22 2012 in Trip Reports)

Turkish_Airlines_Business_Class: BKK > SGN (4/9) (by Knightsofmalta Sep 22 2012 in Trip Reports)





INTRODUCTION
VASCO is an acronym for ‘Vietnam Air Services Company’. The carrier operates s a kind of extension of Vietnam Airlines. The beautiful island of Con Dao belongs to Vietnam and lies due south of the mainland, a short flight of 45 minutes away from the capital.

Date: 4. September 2012
Airline: VASCO for Vietnam Airlines
Aircraft: ATR-72
From: Ho Chin Minh City
To: Con Dao
Cabin: Economy
Seat: 1D

GETTING TO THE AIRPORT
Vietnam is a fascinating and beautiful country. Even Saigon has a certain charm about it, although it may not exactly be what you’d call beautiful. The city still retains many traces of its colonial past as part of French Indochine, most noticeably the cathedral of Notre Dame in the centre of town, which was built by French craftsmen using bricks that were brought all the way from Marseille in France.

So far I was always under the impression that Beijing has the worst traffic I’ve ever seen, mainly due to the fact that most Chinese seem to have a very developed death wish and simply drive like maniacs. That was until I came to Vietnam…

It’s not that there’s a lot of congestion and you certainly can’t say they drive too fast. They couldn’t even if they tried probably. The thing is, the cities are crawling with Vespas. The Vespa appears to be the most popular mode of transport within the cities and it’s not unusual to see as many as four or five persons on a Vespa at the same time, driving through the narrow streets of Saigon just like thousands of other drivers.

From what I gather the strategy when driving in Vietnam is just to never stop, no matter what’s coming your way. Instead slow down and start honking like something crazy.

Fortunately I had the pleasure of being driven to the airport in the hotel shuttle, which I suppose is quite a derogative term for something with a Mercedes star on the bonnet. The journey to the airport from the hotel takes about 45 minutes, mainly due to the traffic. The airport is actually very close to the city.

CHECK-IN
I arrive at the domestic terminal, which looks like it’s quite an old facility from its architecture. Apart from that though, it’s clean and seemingly well equipped. I find my row for check-in and am processed by a friendly young lady. Initially she places me on 14A. Just as I turn to leave though, she calls me back and asks me if perhaps I would prefer the exit row ‘because you have long leg’. I have two actually and I agree that by Vietnamese standards I probably am rather tall. So she issues me a new boarding pass for 1D, window seat.







From check-in I head one floor up to the departure lounge. Security is a very relaxed affair, you don’t have to remove your liquids or your laptop, which makes the whole process much easier.





THE LOUNGE
There is a Business Class lounge but the young lady tells me that my Air France Platinum card is only valid in the international lounges if travelling on an Economy Class ticket.

So instead I have a look around the airside shopping area, which is certainly different from the retail selection at other airports. Anyone for some frozen snake perhaps?



BOARDING
Boarding is called on time. Literally. I don’t know if the PA was kaput or what but the gate agent starts yelling something in Vietnamese – the only bit I understand is Con Dao – at which the other passengers at the gate stand up and go through the gate.













So I follow suit. I head down the stairs to the waiting bus. All in all, I count 40 passengers on this flight. The bus driver demonstrated the same driving style on the apron as his compatriots on the public roads. We pass an Farnair ATR-72 freighter, which is a long way from home, before pulling up next to our ride to Con Dao.







Great place to put your hat, officer...



THE CABIN
The cabin of this bird looks very well used. I like how the headrest covers look as though they’ve been ironed to death.















The view outside.



DEPARTURE
From what I can observe, the inner one of the two parallel runways is used for departures at Saigon, while the outer one is used for arrivals. Take-off is quite sprightly for this little turboprop. As announced by the pilot we hit quite a bit of turbulence as soon as we get airborne.





You're rather far from home!











SERVICE
The cabin crew consists of two young Vietnamese ladies, both of which are friendly and welcoming. Right after take-off we are served Jasmine scented cold towels.



THE MEAL
Service on this short flight consists of a bottle of VASCO branded still water.



That gives me more time to enjoy the view outside. It’s quite interesting how you can clearly distinguish the brown river water from the greenish-blue sea. I would have thought it would be more gradual.













ARRIVAL
The approach into Con Dao is lovely. First we pass over the island before doing a u-turn to line up for the approach.







The approach is also quite spectacular. Think St. Maarten. With the only difference being that while St. Maarten’s runway is long enough to accommodate a widebody, Con Dao requires even our little ATR to do some serious breaking action. Most of the approach is over water, then we fly over the beach at a very low altitude before eventually touching down.













As the icing on the cake, I disembark and walk across the small apron to the terminal building.







At arrival the driver taking me to my hotel, the Six Senses Con Dao, is already expecting me. For the next four days I am going to do exactly nothing at all except sit in or by my own pool. What bliss.















CONCLUSION
Domestic flying in Vietnam is a lot like taking a bus. And from what I can tell, that’s how VASCO understands its mission. No more, no less.

To be continued...