Lao Airlines Review: Our Flight to Luang Prabang

Booking and Check-In

Online Booking

We booked our flight on the Lao Airlines website.

The website isn’t the most modern-looking, but the booking process and credit card payment worked reliably.

We flew on an ATR 72 turboprop, which seats 70 passengers. There are no different booking classes — all seats are economy.

That said, there were four different price tiers. The real difference came down to cancellation policies.

Since we had no plans to cancel, we went with the cheapest fare — though “cheap” is relative with Lao Airlines.

For the just-under-one-hour flight from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang and back, we paid $205 US per person, which works out to about €173.

By the way, as an alternative to flying, you can also cover this route by Slow Boat.

Luggage

Each passenger may check one bag weighing up to 20 kilograms.

You’re also allowed one carry-on of up to 7 kg. Our carry-on was weighed at check-in, so don’t pack it too full.

Also check out our packing list for Southeast Asia

Check-In

Unfortunately, Lao Airlines doesn’t offer online check-in. You’ll need to head to the check-in counter at the airport regardless of whether you’re traveling with carry-on only or not.

Since you can’t reserve seats during booking, don’t show up at the last minute if you want to sit together with someone.

The airport check-in went quickly and smoothly for us. On the outbound flight, we even scored two seats in the front row, which had extra legroom.

Comfort and Service On Board

Seats and Legroom

Lao Airlines’ turboprops are all configured with a 2-2 seating arrangement.

As mentioned, on the outbound flight we had seats in the front row and plenty of space.

On the return flight we sat further back. As is typical on smaller aircraft, the seat pitch isn’t very generous — but for a one-hour flight, that’s really no issue at all.

The seats recline easily. Unfortunately, some seats on the plane were broken and wouldn’t stay upright — they kept falling back. That was annoying for the people sitting behind them (in this case, Jenny). But again, on such a short flight it’s not a big deal.

Food and Drinks On Board

On both flights there was a small lunch pack consisting of a tiny bottle of water (100 ml) and something that was presumably meant to be food.

On the outbound flight there was a small roll with a mini sausage inside; on the return flight, a mini sandwich with an unidentifiable filling.

Basti tried the mini sausage and didn’t finish it. That pretty much says it all about the quality, and we’d rather not go into further detail.

In a second round, we were able to order drinks — soft drinks, coffee, tea, and beer were all on offer.

Honestly, the drink selection was solid for such a short flight, but the lunch pack could have been skipped entirely.

Lao Airlines Destinations

Lao Airlines operates ATR 72 turboprops as well as a total of four Airbus A320s.

In addition to domestic routes, there are flights to Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Cambodia, China, and South Korea. Additional destinations such as Myanmar, Indonesia, and Taiwan are planned.

The three most important international airports in Laos are Luang Prabang in the north, the capital Vientiane, and Pakse in the south.

Lao Airlines offers the following routes from these three locations:

Our Verdict

All in all, the flight was fine. With such a short hop, there isn’t much an airline can really get wrong.

For routes served exclusively by Lao Airlines, it’s a perfectly reasonable choice. If you do have options though, another carrier will almost certainly give you better value for money.