Danang Domestic Terminal Experience
Alright!
Let's continue the previous story -- still on my domestic flight from Danang (DAD) to Ho Chi Minh (HCM) aka Saigon (SGN) in Vietnam, with an onward international flight connection [transit or transfer] to Phnom Penh (PNH) in the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Taxi To The Airport!
You already know, my notes always start from the very beginning. This time with this:
Nothing extraordinary really, I just noted that like many in the world, the dashboards of taxicabs in Vietnam are also now cluttered w/ many tech gadgets like that tablet.
In the Philippines, the most common thing is still the smartphone for waze, grabapp or google maps, right? Very small screens! Maybe our drivers (still) have good eyes!
Or most probably, walang pambili ng tablet hahaha!
Well, for Vinasun taxi, their gadgets even encroach on the front passenger's space:
For people with longer limbs like me, who must always sit 'in front' for better comfort, that radio thing [roger roger, over over] is a little bit of a nuisance hehe. But okay, fine!
How to design a car's dashboard!
That made me jot some notes... like: car manufacturers do not actually design their vehicles anticipating that some or many of their units will be used as taxicabs, 'no?!
There has to be some space or crevice earmarked for those tablets, for those bulky 2-way radios, for taxi meters, etc., - plus who knows what gadgets will come out next!
But dashboards should still be sleek, so that, if a car is used privately (not as a taxi), the 'earmarked' spaces won't look ugly! Da! Who says being a car designer is easy?!
Joking aside, these non-sensical comments like I am doing now, actually contribute to the evolution of everything! Didn't you notice, some cars now have receptacles at just above the driver's forehead (on the sun shade) just for keeping his sunglasses?
Ay, when there's a need, it'll be provided hehehe! Right, Toyota?! Okay, you designers (I know one of them) think of a place where that over-over thing should be installed!
Istorbo sa tuhod ko! Actually, in the past, I saw some taxi in Metro Manila that have that kind of 2-way radio, but installed near the driver's right leg, not passenger side!
Technically, istorbo pa rin - at least doon sa driver, not me!
Okay okay, enough of that car talk, 'lest we become manufacturers hahaha! But that is what happens when you travel alone, with no one to "talk nonsense with". You get to note down, just about every little crazy thing you see around. Ah, I like it that way!
One last pass at Trần Thị Lý Bridge
On my way to the airport, here I was on a final fly-by, at one of the famous bridges!
Beautiful during the day, even more beautiful at night, yet a truly functioning bridge.
Oh, don't forget to say goodbye to the good old Nguyễn Văn Trỗi Pedestrian Bridge [Cầu đi bộ Nguyễn Văn Trỗi]. That is that yellowish bridge at right edge of the photo! We also talked about it in one previous article, remember? It is a promenade, a park!
Hello Airport!
Entering the airport vicinity, one last glance at Danang's road traffic condition...
Hey I took this picture at the toll gate, since I do not (yet) understand what that road signage is, above the 10kph speed limit (at left). Is it a vehicle length limit (8meters)?
Maybe it is. But I don't see that kind of sign often, so I got curious.
Danang International Airport Domestic Terminal
And finally, after just about 15 minutes, here I was approaching the domestic wing!
Very similar (in approach) to our airports, right? That is because, Vietnam is also a "drive-right" country - vehicles drive on the right side of roads like China, America, etc.
Oh, I even took a picture of the taxi that I came to the airport in! Vinasun, of course!
I didn't hail them, my hotel Holiday Beach Resort did it for me as they did since Day 1 in Danang. I had no issues, I enjoyed my rides, so I guess they're a trusted company.
I'm sorry to those who had bad reviews of Vinasun in Danang. Didn't happen to me!
Departure Check-in Area
Like many airports on earth, no x-ray machines for people to enter departure area.
You just enter through that door (D1) or at the other end (D2), and find your check-in counters if you need to - or go straight to the boarding gate if you checked-in online.
Similar to entering airports in Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, etc. One less hassle of lining up or encountering laglag-bala at kung anu-ano pang kahayupan sa mga airport!
Sana all, 'no?
By the way, the big letters above the door is an ad. Akala ko kung anong pangalan in Tiếng Việt na parang 'Departure Wing A' or something like that. Advertisement pala!
Yes, it's a commercial advertisement! Of what? Of a steel company hahaha!
Well, walang basagan ng trip. Pera din yan oy!
No Online Check-in, for me only!
I had to see the check-in counters because I reserved an "emergency exit seat"!
That's how I understood the system prompt, when I attempted to do online check-in last night. No issue though, I needed to see them anyway, for my checked baggage.
Ah well, I think the requirement of asking passengers to personally appear at airline check-in counters, just because they reserved 'emergency exit seats', is transitional.
Meaning airliners are still grappling on "what to do", since their procedures or policy manuals require them to "ensure that a passenger to be seated on an emergency exit seat has been properly assessed if fit, and briefed of their role during emergencies". Na!
But the advent of technology already allows an "online-checked-in passenger" to go straight to the gate, without passing by the check-in counters! How can they assess and brief, when passenger is already checked-in (online) and now going to the gate?
Hahaha! Akala nyo madali maging airline staff ha?!
So for now, their 'interim' procedure is to not allow online check-in for those that get emergency-exit-seats, so they can "assess and brief" while searching for a solution!
Di kasi nila alam, meron PinoyTraveler, na expert consultant on those matters ahehehe!
No worries, they will soon ultimately finally find a solution hehe! That happens when technology disrupts the status quo - and usually, it is "almost always", for the better!
No morning crowd?!
Aw, maybe I was lucky again, or maybe I already instinctively know what time to fly!
Looking left (above) or looking right (below), check-in counters were rather "empty"!
This was about 0900H, and I knew that Danang is a busy 'domestic hub' in Vietnam.
Oh okay, it's probably similar to our situation in the Philippines - our domestic flights start flying out at dawn so by 8~9AM, planes are still coming back. Few departures!
Boarding Pass Memories (yes me ganun)!
Nostalgia! I was issued a cardboard-type boarding pass - a fast vanishing thing!
Yep, boarding passes nowadays, are either tiny pieces of paper like receipts of ATM Machines, or mere electronic copies saved-to and retrieved-from a traveler's phone!
That's the way of the world now, where efficiency and economy is key.
This below was the back of my (still cardboard-type) boarding pass on Vietnam Air. Ayayay oh nostalgia again. There's that sheet of paper stapled to the boarding pass.
Many are not familiar with it, but I am, very, hehehe! That is their list of reminders to passengers who occupy 'emergency exit seats'. It is very important. All airliners are required (by law) to brief all who sit on those seats. That's why I couldn't web check!
Yes, because of my seat preference (14G), their computer system didn't allow me to do a web check-in, so that I would personally show up at their check-in counters, be assessed by the staff (if physically fit, willing & able), and briefed on those reminders!
If only to show you how important that thing is to them (as required by law), I flipped that little piece of paper (without detaching it), and as expected, the same reminder, this time in the Vietnamese language, is also printed there. It's mandatory for safety!
Let's go inside now...
Entering the Pre-Departure Hall
This was the first bottle-neck, the first long-and-slow line I encountered in Danang...
It's even a zigzag queue, I wondered why or what for, since I know it's just a security checkpoint. Yep, the usual x-ray after check-in. Kumbaga sa atin pa, yung 2nd x-ray.
And I've seen (I could still see them), check-in counters weren't crowded. So why?
Soon I noticed all passengers must pass through those officers at those counters.
All I could murmur was: ano ito, me pa-immigration din pala ang domestic flights nila?!
Note that I was being the atrevida-me very discreetly, as in ngiting tikom ang bibig! I was laughing silently and ridiculing them only in my mind! Mahirap makulong dito e!
Aba oy, kahit ASEAN member country sila, komunista pa rin ang form of government nila. Meaning 'di natin gaanong gets yan. Baka diktador lahat ang government staff.
Baka pag tinawanan ko o nagreklamo ako eh... bigla nalang sabihin "ikulong yan"!
What was funny anyway? Aru, those counters are only for checking if your boarding pass matches your ID. Walang visa-visa check or pa-tatak-tatak na nangyayari dyan!
It's just the same as at our domestic airports where after check-in, when you're about to enter the final security x-ray, a blue guard checks your boarding pass and ID. Yun!
That's why natawa ako, since me pa-counter-counter pa silang nalalaman, titingnan lang naman kung match nga ang ID mo sa boarding pass. Simple, clerical skill lang!
Further reason why I was silently ridiculing them was: I knew they didn't make those counters just for the act of 'eyeballing' if your ID matches your boarding pass name.
Those counters were actually the 'immigration desks of years ago' when this side of the building was still being used as International Wing, before Terminal 2 was built!
I was like saying to myself aba ang mga hitad na ito, feeling "authority" hehehe!
So, that is the reason why there are those mala-immigration counters, even if this is just a domestic terminal. In fact, only 2 counters (occassionally 3) are being used. I can tell you they're the same as our 1 or 2 blue-guards who just stand to check IDs!
Masaya ang mga jaguar (dya-gwar). Pero, walang basagan ng trip. Hayaan sila!
Where things go slow...
Now, I however also realized, that the bottleneck is not with those two 'officers' who match IDs and boarding passes. It's at the security check. The x-ray scanning area.
They have more x-ray machines there, than at any of our domestic airports. I think 4 or even 5 machines all lined beside each other. Why the congestion? Walang tao eh!
Only 2 machines were on. Namahaw tingali ang mga gi-ahak hehe! That is common especially in the Philippines, right? Assigned government personnel leave their post at will. They feel they're gods. Ay, kung sa Pinas aangal ako. Dito komunista, ayoko!
No pictures at the actual x-ray and security gate area. Not allowed. Aruu! Pero, wala pa naman tayo narinig na laglag bala sa Vietnam di ba? In fairness, matino yata sila!
At The Pre-Departure Hall
This is already a small airport, even just for domestic flights. Danang is growing!
Similar in "length, look and feel" with Mactan International Airport's Terminal 1.
More like Hanoi's Domestic Terminal in terms of having a prominent smoking room!
And there's even a choice! So it's not just 1 but 2: at the departure waiting lounge.
At both ends of the waiting lounge, which is not even that long and wide. Panalo na!
Pagbigyan nyo na ako, that's my only bisyo hehehe! Here are more pics around...
As I earlier said, this isn't that big an airport, so it's easy to stroll around. Ganito yan, Mactan T1 has 5 airbridges, Iloilo has 3, Danang has 4. Now we can compare them.
Boarding Announcement
At about 1120H, I heard a boarding call that sounded like my flight. So I checked:
Look at the white arrow I drew on the flight display board. That was this, my flight. It didn't say "boarding" yet, but I was sure it would in a few seconds. But at what gate?
Which gate to "find"?
Also not on the board yet, but my boarding pass said Gate 6/T1. That means Gate 6 of Terminal 1. Time to find it, tigil na da yosi hehe. Btw, I like their suggestion boxes.
Teka, boarding pass said Gate 6, but announcements said Gate 9. Where do I go?
Ikaw, what would you choose? Heheh, following the announcements would be most practical since that would 'usually' be the most recent information about your flight.
Your boarding pass will have been printed much earlier (when you checked-in at their check-incounters). Details about your flight may have already changed from then on!
So I went to find Gate 9. Aruu, longer walk, I didn't know it is downstairs pa pala!
Found! Gate 9 is a "bus gate". Many passengers already left on previous buses.
And that one was already full when I reached this gate! Well, no problem, there were still many of us left to wait for a 'next bus'. I wasn't late after all. Never am. Sure yan!
Airside (Tarmac) Views
Aboard the bus, I still caught one last glance at Gate 9. Goodbye Danang Airport!
It very much looks like our bus gates in the Philippines, 'no? Except for the green rug!
Oh, mind you, that "green carpet" is already 'outside' of the building, yet still tiled and roofed. Passengers are still protected from the elements. Sa 'tin, wala nang ganyan!
At pushback, I saw interconnecting gangways. Hmmn.., peculiar... uncommon.
Maybe some kind of an 'extension', so they can have 2 more aerobridges aside from the existing 4. Oh I won't mind walking in those - for the views. They're glass-walled.
Speaking of views, this is what we children love most: passing-by the big airplanes!
You already know things near a plane, right? Fuel Truck, Catering Truck, Safety Cones.
Well, somehow, even I still encounter things that I do not yet know. Like this one:
Looks like a Catering Truck? But how come it has windows? Aber? Hmm, palaisipan!
Ah, this one is a Vietjet Airbus A321-200 with (230) all-economy seats pushing back on its way to Hanoi. It is a fairly new (younger) plane they got (leased), only in 2016!
How did I know all that? Ah eh... being a 'frequent flyer' I have my own wicked ways!
Same aircraft as above (as we passed by it), in fact, I know more. Like I know that it was [at the same time] also tagged as a Japan Airlines flight from Danang to Hanoi!
Oh, I am sure you know, that standing dude (he actually walks as the plane is pushed back) is talking to the pilots. If you look closely, his headset is wired to the airplane!
After our "bus tour" along the apron and taxiway, we finally reached our plane...
It's also an Airbus A321-200 - just a little bit older in servicing Vietnam (since 2013) and it has a Bi-Class Configuration: 16 seats in Business and 162 in Economy Class.
Let's talk about my flight experience on this domestic flight from DAD to SGN.
That's next!
Let's continue the previous story -- still on my domestic flight from Danang (DAD) to Ho Chi Minh (HCM) aka Saigon (SGN) in Vietnam, with an onward international flight connection [transit or transfer] to Phnom Penh (PNH) in the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Taxi To The Airport!
You already know, my notes always start from the very beginning. This time with this:
In the Philippines, the most common thing is still the smartphone for waze, grabapp or google maps, right? Very small screens! Maybe our drivers (still) have good eyes!
Or most probably, walang pambili ng tablet hahaha!
Well, for Vinasun taxi, their gadgets even encroach on the front passenger's space:
How to design a car's dashboard!
That made me jot some notes... like: car manufacturers do not actually design their vehicles anticipating that some or many of their units will be used as taxicabs, 'no?!
There has to be some space or crevice earmarked for those tablets, for those bulky 2-way radios, for taxi meters, etc., - plus who knows what gadgets will come out next!
But dashboards should still be sleek, so that, if a car is used privately (not as a taxi), the 'earmarked' spaces won't look ugly! Da! Who says being a car designer is easy?!
Joking aside, these non-sensical comments like I am doing now, actually contribute to the evolution of everything! Didn't you notice, some cars now have receptacles at just above the driver's forehead (on the sun shade) just for keeping his sunglasses?
Ay, when there's a need, it'll be provided hehehe! Right, Toyota?! Okay, you designers (I know one of them) think of a place where that over-over thing should be installed!
Istorbo sa tuhod ko! Actually, in the past, I saw some taxi in Metro Manila that have that kind of 2-way radio, but installed near the driver's right leg, not passenger side!
Technically, istorbo pa rin - at least doon sa driver, not me!
Okay okay, enough of that car talk, 'lest we become manufacturers hahaha! But that is what happens when you travel alone, with no one to "talk nonsense with". You get to note down, just about every little crazy thing you see around. Ah, I like it that way!
One last pass at Trần Thị Lý Bridge
On my way to the airport, here I was on a final fly-by, at one of the famous bridges!
Oh, don't forget to say goodbye to the good old Nguyễn Văn Trỗi Pedestrian Bridge [Cầu đi bộ Nguyễn Văn Trỗi]. That is that yellowish bridge at right edge of the photo! We also talked about it in one previous article, remember? It is a promenade, a park!
Hello Airport!
Entering the airport vicinity, one last glance at Danang's road traffic condition...
Maybe it is. But I don't see that kind of sign often, so I got curious.
Danang International Airport Domestic Terminal
And finally, after just about 15 minutes, here I was approaching the domestic wing!
Oh, I even took a picture of the taxi that I came to the airport in! Vinasun, of course!
I'm sorry to those who had bad reviews of Vinasun in Danang. Didn't happen to me!
Departure Check-in Area
Like many airports on earth, no x-ray machines for people to enter departure area.
Similar to entering airports in Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, etc. One less hassle of lining up or encountering laglag-bala at kung anu-ano pang kahayupan sa mga airport!
Sana all, 'no?
By the way, the big letters above the door is an ad. Akala ko kung anong pangalan in Tiếng Việt na parang 'Departure Wing A' or something like that. Advertisement pala!
Yes, it's a commercial advertisement! Of what? Of a steel company hahaha!
Well, walang basagan ng trip. Pera din yan oy!
No Online Check-in, for me only!
I had to see the check-in counters because I reserved an "emergency exit seat"!
Ah well, I think the requirement of asking passengers to personally appear at airline check-in counters, just because they reserved 'emergency exit seats', is transitional.
Meaning airliners are still grappling on "what to do", since their procedures or policy manuals require them to "ensure that a passenger to be seated on an emergency exit seat has been properly assessed if fit, and briefed of their role during emergencies". Na!
But the advent of technology already allows an "online-checked-in passenger" to go straight to the gate, without passing by the check-in counters! How can they assess and brief, when passenger is already checked-in (online) and now going to the gate?
Hahaha! Akala nyo madali maging airline staff ha?!
So for now, their 'interim' procedure is to not allow online check-in for those that get emergency-exit-seats, so they can "assess and brief" while searching for a solution!
Di kasi nila alam, meron PinoyTraveler, na expert consultant on those matters ahehehe!
No worries, they will soon ultimately finally find a solution hehe! That happens when technology disrupts the status quo - and usually, it is "almost always", for the better!
No morning crowd?!
Aw, maybe I was lucky again, or maybe I already instinctively know what time to fly!
Oh okay, it's probably similar to our situation in the Philippines - our domestic flights start flying out at dawn so by 8~9AM, planes are still coming back. Few departures!
Boarding Pass Memories (yes me ganun)!
Nostalgia! I was issued a cardboard-type boarding pass - a fast vanishing thing!
That's the way of the world now, where efficiency and economy is key.
This below was the back of my (still cardboard-type) boarding pass on Vietnam Air. Ayayay oh nostalgia again. There's that sheet of paper stapled to the boarding pass.
Yes, because of my seat preference (14G), their computer system didn't allow me to do a web check-in, so that I would personally show up at their check-in counters, be assessed by the staff (if physically fit, willing & able), and briefed on those reminders!
Let's go inside now...
Entering the Pre-Departure Hall
This was the first bottle-neck, the first long-and-slow line I encountered in Danang...
And I've seen (I could still see them), check-in counters weren't crowded. So why?
Soon I noticed all passengers must pass through those officers at those counters.
Note that I was being the atrevida-me very discreetly, as in ngiting tikom ang bibig! I was laughing silently and ridiculing them only in my mind! Mahirap makulong dito e!
Aba oy, kahit ASEAN member country sila, komunista pa rin ang form of government nila. Meaning 'di natin gaanong gets yan. Baka diktador lahat ang government staff.
Baka pag tinawanan ko o nagreklamo ako eh... bigla nalang sabihin "ikulong yan"!
What was funny anyway? Aru, those counters are only for checking if your boarding pass matches your ID. Walang visa-visa check or pa-tatak-tatak na nangyayari dyan!
It's just the same as at our domestic airports where after check-in, when you're about to enter the final security x-ray, a blue guard checks your boarding pass and ID. Yun!
That's why natawa ako, since me pa-counter-counter pa silang nalalaman, titingnan lang naman kung match nga ang ID mo sa boarding pass. Simple, clerical skill lang!
Further reason why I was silently ridiculing them was: I knew they didn't make those counters just for the act of 'eyeballing' if your ID matches your boarding pass name.
Those counters were actually the 'immigration desks of years ago' when this side of the building was still being used as International Wing, before Terminal 2 was built!
I was like saying to myself aba ang mga hitad na ito, feeling "authority" hehehe!
So, that is the reason why there are those mala-immigration counters, even if this is just a domestic terminal. In fact, only 2 counters (occassionally 3) are being used. I can tell you they're the same as our 1 or 2 blue-guards who just stand to check IDs!
Masaya ang mga jaguar (dya-gwar). Pero, walang basagan ng trip. Hayaan sila!
Where things go slow...
Now, I however also realized, that the bottleneck is not with those two 'officers' who match IDs and boarding passes. It's at the security check. The x-ray scanning area.
They have more x-ray machines there, than at any of our domestic airports. I think 4 or even 5 machines all lined beside each other. Why the congestion? Walang tao eh!
Only 2 machines were on. Namahaw tingali ang mga gi-ahak hehe! That is common especially in the Philippines, right? Assigned government personnel leave their post at will. They feel they're gods. Ay, kung sa Pinas aangal ako. Dito komunista, ayoko!
No pictures at the actual x-ray and security gate area. Not allowed. Aruu! Pero, wala pa naman tayo narinig na laglag bala sa Vietnam di ba? In fairness, matino yata sila!
At The Pre-Departure Hall
This is already a small airport, even just for domestic flights. Danang is growing!
Similar in "length, look and feel" with Mactan International Airport's Terminal 1.
More like Hanoi's Domestic Terminal in terms of having a prominent smoking room!
And there's even a choice! So it's not just 1 but 2: at the departure waiting lounge.
Pagbigyan nyo na ako, that's my only bisyo hehehe! Here are more pics around...
Boarding Announcement
At about 1120H, I heard a boarding call that sounded like my flight. So I checked:
Which gate to "find"?
Also not on the board yet, but my boarding pass said Gate 6/T1. That means Gate 6 of Terminal 1. Time to find it, tigil na da yosi hehe. Btw, I like their suggestion boxes.
Teka, boarding pass said Gate 6, but announcements said Gate 9. Where do I go?
Your boarding pass will have been printed much earlier (when you checked-in at their check-incounters). Details about your flight may have already changed from then on!
So I went to find Gate 9. Aruu, longer walk, I didn't know it is downstairs pa pala!
Found! Gate 9 is a "bus gate". Many passengers already left on previous buses.
Airside (Tarmac) Views
Aboard the bus, I still caught one last glance at Gate 9. Goodbye Danang Airport!
Oh, mind you, that "green carpet" is already 'outside' of the building, yet still tiled and roofed. Passengers are still protected from the elements. Sa 'tin, wala nang ganyan!
At pushback, I saw interconnecting gangways. Hmmn.., peculiar... uncommon.
Speaking of views, this is what we children love most: passing-by the big airplanes!
Well, somehow, even I still encounter things that I do not yet know. Like this one:
Ah, this one is a Vietjet Airbus A321-200 with (230) all-economy seats pushing back on its way to Hanoi. It is a fairly new (younger) plane they got (leased), only in 2016!
Same aircraft as above (as we passed by it), in fact, I know more. Like I know that it was [at the same time] also tagged as a Japan Airlines flight from Danang to Hanoi!
After our "bus tour" along the apron and taxiway, we finally reached our plane...
Let's talk about my flight experience on this domestic flight from DAD to SGN.
That's next!
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