Vietnamese Celeb Allows Child to Pee on VNA's New A350

A well-known Vietnamese singer is alleged to have allowed her young son to urinate whilst in their seats and not in a lavatory, reports VietOneRadio (link in Vietnamese).

To make matters worse, this was on Vietnam Airlines' (VNA) brand new Airbus A350-900 (A359), which was just recently delivered on June 30. The new plane is currently flying between VNA's two bases in Hanoi (HAN) and Saigon (SGN) to help familiarize and train personnel before its international debut to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) in September.

A fellow passenger posted the story on their Facebook page (also in Vietnamese), with a photo of the singer sitting behind him in Seat 11B.

(image courtesy VietOneRadio)

While the poster anonymized the singer's identity by hiding her face and using only her initials "L.Q.," the Internet quickly figured out her identity to be Le Quyen (Facebook fan page, individual page), using a photo that was publicly posted just after she arrived.

(image courtesy VietOneRadio)

The poster claims that Le let the child pee into an airsickness bag, which cause urine to splatter onto the plane's interior.  When confronted by the Chief Steward on the flight, she pretended not to hear him.

Roughly translated: On board this beautiful A350 which still has that new plane smell (currently at 9000 m, so you can still use the lavatory), one beautiful female passenger in Seat 11B, with 10 fingernails painted in 10 colors, dressed very fashionably, tore open a vomit bag for her son to pee in, splashing everywhere. Chief Steward asked why not go into the lavatory. Dirtying the plane, but the passenger didn't even want to look/acknowledge the Chief Steward. Truly insane, peasants flying on a plane... DEATH BECOMES ME (communicating an "OMG" moment)... THIS LADY IS A VERY FAMOUS SINGER... ONE OF THE HIGHEST PAID PEOPLE IN VIETNAM... SHOULD I UPLOAD THIS PHOTO... (image courtesy VietOneRadio)

The Internet quickly reacted, calling the behavior embarrassing and for her name and this incident to be used to educate the public on proper etiquette. As one can imagine, some posters who did not see anything amiss were quickly mocked and shamed.

A similar incident occurred onboard a Delta flight in 2014 from Beijing, when a child defecated in his seat after his parents spread newspapers out for him. The incident sparked public outrage in China, with those on social media calling the family an embarrassment to Chinese culture.

Fleet Updates: Vietnam Receives A350; Postpones B787

Vietnam Airlines (VNA) earlier today took delivery of their very first Airbus A350-900 (A359). The aircraft is the first new widebody added to VNA's fleet in over 10 years, and alongside the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (B789), will mark the modernization of its long-haul fleet, currently consisting of Airbus A330s and Boeing 777s.

Photo courtesy Airbus/ATWOnline

VNA becomes only the second carrier to operate the A359, after Qatar Airways (QR), and has orders for 13 additional A359s.  The inaugural route will be from Hanoi (HAN) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) sometime in 3Q of this year.

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As for the B789 delivery schedule, sources have confirmed that the handover will be delayed until July 24. There was reportedly a minor issue with the planned interior configuration, and changes had to be implemented before the aircraft received its airworthiness certificate.

This is the same aircraft, operated by Boeing pilots, that wowed spectators earlier this month at the Paris Air Show with a near-vertical takeoff.  Below is a video from Boeing on the preparation and warmup flights.

VNA plans on introducing the B789 on its London-Heathrow (LHR) routes.

First Boeing 787 for Vietnam Airlines Rolls Off Assembly Line

Short but sweet news: FlightGlobal reports that Vietnam Airlines' (VNA's) first Boeing 787-9 (B789) has completed assembly and has rolled out of the hangar.

Photo courtesy Vietnam Airlines/FlightGlobal

Its next stop will be the paint shop to put on the VNA livery, then test flights will commence.

VNAFlyer previously broke the story about interior cabin configurations.

This first B789 is leased, and will have 28 business class seats from Cirrus and 283 slimline economy seats from B/E Aerospace.

While the leased aircraft will not have a deluxe economy section, VNA's purchased airframes will be configured with 28 business, 35 deluxe economy, and 211 economy seats.

The first B789 will be deployed on the Hanoi (HAN) to London-Heathrow (LHR) route commencing June 29, and split time with the Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)-LHR sector.

American Confirms 1st 787 International Routes to Beijing, Buenos Aires

American Airlines (AA), which took delivery of its first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (B788) last month, officially announced today the first revenue flights for the new advanced widebody aircraft.

AA's B788 will be based at Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), AA's headquarters and main hub. On May 7, it will initial fly domestic familiarization and training flights to Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) twice daily.

On June 2, the B788 will make its inaugural international flight from DFW to Beijing, China (PEK). After its return from PEK, on June 4 it will then fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE).

These flights will be available for booking starting this Saturday, February 14.

"We look forward to welcoming our international customers onboard the 787 with its modern amenities and comforts beginning this summer," said Andrew Nocella, American's chief marketing officer. "Adding the 787 Dreamliner to our network gives us the opportunity to increase our efficiency on long-haul flights across the globe and potentially open up new markets in our network. It's a big win for customers and just the latest example of how American is going for great."

For travelers from the United States to Vietnam, AA's DFW-PEK flight opens up another option, as AA fare rules generally allow passengers to connect in China onto Vietnam Airlines (VNA) and other carriers. For instance, a passenger can fly DFW-PEK then onward to Saigon (SGN) or Hanoi (HAN) on VNA.

VNA is set to take delivery of its own Dreamliner later this year.

The B788 will have 2 classes of service, with 28 lie-flat seats in business class with all-aisle access, arranged in a unique 1-2-1, foreward/backward-facing configuration. In-flight entertainment is on a 15.3-inch HD touchscreen, and Bose noise canceling headsets will be provided. A walk-up bar for midflight drinks and snacks will also be available.

In economy, there are 198 seats in a 3-3-3 configuration, 48 of which will be in the extra-legroom Main Cabin Extra section, reserved for the airline's elite passengers and also available for a fee. Each economy seat will feature a 9-inch HD touchscreen.

All seats will feature universal AC and USB power outlets, as well as onboard Wi-Fi.

AA has ordered 42 Boeing 787s in total, in both the -8 and the stretched -9 versions, with options for 58 more.

Vietnam Airlines' Inaugural 787-9 Flight to London-Heathrow on June 29

The inaugural international service for Vietnam Airlines' (VNA's) new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (B789) is currently scheduled to be on June 29, 2015, flying from Hanoi (HAN) to London's Heathrow Airport (LHR).

This replaces service currently flown on VNA's Boeing 777-200ER (B772).

Flight VN055 will depart HAN at 12:30am for an overnight flight, arriving at LHR at 6:40am.

Read more: Vietnam Airlines' Boeing 787: New Lie-Flat Seats in Business, 2 Different Economy Configurations

The first return flight, VN054, will depart from LHR at 2:45pm on June 29, and arrive back at HAN the next day at 7:50am.

Then on June 30, the B789 will operate a revenue domestic flight for repositioning, Flight VN237 from HAN to Saigon (SGN), departing at 10:00am and landing at 12:05pm.

The first B789 flight out of SGN will depart early on July 1 at 12:05am and arrive at LHR at 6:40am the same day.

Read more: Vietnam Airlines: In-Flight Wi-Fi to be Available on New 787, A350 Aircraft

It seems that while the equipment information has been loaded, VNA is using their B772 seatmaps as placeholders, so if while one can select a seat on a flight scheduled to be on a B789, it's very likely to change.

A screenshot of the seatmap that appears on the LHR routes operated by the B789,
though it's clearly the configuration for the B772. Image source: Reader Andrew R.

A blog reader reports that he was able to select a business class seat on the map, even though he is currently booked in a premium economy seat. I cautioned him to:

• Recheck for new seat assignments when VNA loads the final B789 seatmap into the system; and,
• Prepare to ask for a refund, since the first 4 B789s are slated to arrive with no deluxe economy seating.

(H/T: Andrew R.)