VIENTIANE, 4 November 2022: Lao Airways has released details of its winter schedule on its Facebook page confirming it has resumed flights on regional routes from Vientiane and Luang Prabang.
The national airline said the winter timetable responded to signs that domestic and international tourism was “resuming after suspending flights for years due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
However, the airline’s website has no timetable, schedules or flight network details (the routenet graphic is outdated pre-Covid). You are directed to the website’s standard booking engine page, where you insert your dates and destination and hope for a match.
On its Facebook page, the airline says it resumed flights effective 30 October on the route Vientiane – Luang Prabang – Xieng Mai every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Flights on the Luang Prabang – Hanoi route operate every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
The Luang Prabang – Pakse route returns with flights every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday since 1 November.
The airline has also resumed flights on the following routes; Vientiane – Luang Prabang – Chiang Mai, Luang Prabang – Hanoi and Luang Prabang – Pakse – Siem Reap, effective 1 November.
Vientiane – Luang Prabang – Chiang Mai every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Luang Prabang – Hanoi every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Luang Prabang – Pakse – Siem Reap every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
According to the Facebook post, passengers can see more information about flights and bookings at www.laoairlines.com or the Lao Airlines app. It’s a pot-luck endeavour. There is no overarching network timetable to show the airline’s active routes post Covid-19 with departure days and times. Airlines commonly assume that passengers have the time to search for destinations served and flight date options by repeatedly inputting requests on the booking engine page until bingo; they have a flight and fare that they can book. Lao Airlines and other regional airlines in Southeast Asia targetting international travellers should make it easier for travellers to check out the options conveniently at a glance before they input a request on the booking engine page.
