Airline review: Bamboo Airways, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, Business Class, Sydney to Ho Chi Minh

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THE ROUTE

Flight QH 87, Sydney to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon)

THE AIRCRAFT

Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

At the time of my flight, travellers to Vietnam were required to show a negative PCR or rapid antigen test (administered by a medical professional) taken within 24 hours of departure, but this requirement has now been scrapped. Stewards wore clear hard-plastic masks (that looked like facial terrariums) and, although not rigidly enforced, masks are mandatory for passengers too, as per Vietnam government requirements.

CHECK IN

Just shy of three hours before take-off, and before I had a chance to queue at the counter, a customer-service agent grabbed my passport, said “I’ll be back in a moment”, and returned with a boarding pass three minutes later. I had to wind around Kingsford Smith’s security line for the following 50 minutes with the rest of the flight-stressed mass.

THE SEAT

Forward-facing angled pods, in a herringbone configuration, in a 1:2:1 formation are decorated in standard corporate-blue upholstery meets generic grey plastic. The seat is 20.5 inches (52 centimetres) wide and converts to a 6 foot, 6 inch lie-flat bed (198 centimetres). The space was exceptionally clean, as if straight out of the box. Seated, there is acres of leg room, making the tray-table feel like it’s in another time zone if you’re stubby-of-arms. Midway along the lie-flat bed there is a small, annoying hump where there should be a booty-sized valley to cradle your derriere. The zip-up ‘cleaning kit’ bag exudes a ’70s-aviation charm, but its contents seem two-dollar-store by comparison (starring ‘Fresh and Bright’ toothpaste). All nine items inside, the bag itself and complimentary slippers (for the dainty of feet) are all wrapped in unnecessary layers of opaque plastic. The nifty fold-out brush-comb combo will be appreciated by the hirsute.

BAGGAGE

Business class passengers can take two carry-on bags up to 7 kilograms each. Checked luggage can be up to 65 kilograms, with each bag a maximum of 32 kilograms.

ENTERTAINMENT

The crystal-clear pop-out touch-screen telly and user-friendly handset are let down by a dearth of entertainment. There are about 30 English and few Vietnamese, none of which are new releases and all of which have foul language dubbed over. Otherwise, it’s basically 12 episodes of ‘Adventure Golf’ and a tiny handful of random episodes from shows like Young Sheldon. Supplied Gorsun headphones are not over-ear, noise-cancelling or particularly comfy.

SERVICE

Starting with a signature hand-over-heart and deep bow, this is uber-polite south-east Asian service personified, with more pleases and thank-yous than a church dinner. Meals were a little slow off the mark (cashews nuts arrived 40 minutes after take-off) but the stewards passed the 10-second call-button challenge every time.

FOOD

Among the choice of two starters and three mains are some tasty Asian-Western fusions. The braised fish with chilli and lemongrass sauce was great, the beef pie not so. Bamboo’s menu is crying out for a simple Vietnamese classic like pho. By business-class standards, the drinks cabinet was almost bare, with just a basic beer selection, only one red and one white wine to choose from and, almost unbelievably, not a single spirit on the menu. Cue the riot…

ONE MORE THING

I thought I had finally gone insane, until I realised that the bird chirping I was hearing after lights-out is just part of Bamboo’s ambient soundtrack. Kind of sweet actually.

VERDICT

It might be a newish airline with a name that doesn’t immediately inspire trust in a Western market but Bamboo Airways is a sound choice for people looking for a business-class experience at very reasonable price ($2690 return). Especially for the lie-flat bed on the overnight return flight to Australia.