Vietnam Airlines, the eponymous carrier of the Southeast Asian country, has long had a presence in Australia, almost since it began flights outside of Asia. Currently, the airline serves the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth from its main base at Tân Sơn Nhâ’t International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City with a mix of the Boeing 787-9/10 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350-900. Perth is the most recent addition to the airline’s Australian network, with the first flight from SGN touching down on December 7th, 2023, and it is here that we’ll be flying today.
Server: Solo
Airline: Vietnam Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Origin: Tân Sơn Nhâ’t International Airport, Tân Bình, Vietnam (SGN)
Destination: Perth Airport, Perth, Australia (PER)
Flight Number: VN791
Route: VVTS-YPPH
Seat: 12A (Premium Economy)
Time En Route: 6 Hours 12 Minutes
Boarding at Terminal 2, which handles an ever-growing amount of international flights. Our aircraft is one of 17x 787s operated by Vietnam Airlines, divided between 11x 787-9s and 6x of the longer 787-10s, with a further two of the latter variant on order.
Lowering our flaps before taxiing. Vietnam Airlines has flown the 787 since 2017, operating it on flights within Asia and farther afield to Europe and Australia.
Takeoff from Tân Sơn Nhâ’t
Climbing to 39,000 feet where the Mekong River meets the South China Sea
Cruising south between Sumatra and Borneo
We’ve reached the Western Australian coast near Exmouth with just under 2 hours left en route
Descending into Perth
Landing in Australia’s 4th-largest city and the world’s most geographically isolated major one
Leaving the runway after a very nice flight in premium economy
Parked at Terminal 1, handling all international flights and Virgin Australia’s domestic ones