Comfort
You get what you pay for in this respect the plane model is the same as some of those used in the BA fleet, so up to date and standard. We had economy seats with reasonable leg room and a touch screen for every passenger. The economy section is set up in the classic 3 rows of 3, and we were in the middle so not the easiest place to get that much needed sleep but in economy it’s hard to expect more. The only problem was the way that the seat was designed, the back and the bottom were separate so there was a small gap that was a little uncomfortable.
Price
£388 Direct from London Gatwick to Hanoi, which was a good few hundred cheaper if not half the price of your bigger name airlines, so certainly a great cheap alternative. Also the fact that we didn’t have to do a layover and we just flew direct for that price was really quite good considering.
Food
Over a 12.5 hour flight we were given two meals that actually tasted drastically better than they first appeared. The first was a beef dish with rice, steamed Pak Choi and a side salad, and then a peach and passion fruit yoghurt for dessert. There was a decent flow of snacks to boot with pots of peanuts and ham and cheese sandwiches being dished out incrementally to tide passengers over. The second meal came around 2 hours from end of the flight, and was a ‘western frittata’ with a veggie sausage, pale looking mushrooms, a tomato and a small ball of wilted spinach. Each of the meals comes with a kaiser style roll and a small block of butter, so make shift sandwiches were fashioned from both meals. They also come with a sachet of fluorescent red hot sauce, which packs a punch and actually made the food even more enjoyable. Then for dessert was a pudding reticent of a school dinner, being a small square sponge with some form of purple berry jam atop it, and a lick of custard in bottom, I haven’t a clue what it was but I could eat 10 of them. In terms of the food and drink portion of the flight, you really shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover with what Bamboo offer, it really isn’t the most eye catching food at all, but it was tasty and it certainly did the job.
Staff
An entirely Vietnamese crew, they were attentive and very polite. Can’t fault them in any way shape or form. The whole set up is very professional and the service was of a very good standard which is particularly impressive given how new they are as a company in the industry.
Flight
The flight was scheduled for 11:10 and it took off with no hitches or delays at that time exactly. The flight was the first direct for the airline from London Gatwick to Hanoi so passengers were given these lovely cupcakes to celebrate the occasion just before boarding the flight. It was also probably the smoothest long haul flight I’ve ever been on so a plus for anyone who is afraid of flying. The in flight entertainment was reasonable with a decent selection of media to choose from with films like Argo and Joker, and an array of music that I didn’t really delve in to. The thing I enjoyed the most was the interactive map on the touchscreen which displayed not only the route, but also useful info such as distance left, time left on flight and ETA. The system also seemed to reset itself with any applicable changes which is great for keeping you in the loop as a passenger.
