I used to fly for Vietnam Airlines, a couple of years back, not that long.
Living in SGN is very interesting and can be a lot of fun. Nice places to hang around, good food - well if you like asian food, if not, well...
- nice people in general and if you are from Oz, not too far away from home. Not to mention the girls
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There are a lot of expat pilots flying for Vietnam Airlines and there are much more other expats working and living in SGN. So you can expect a more or less vibrant expat live.
The cost of living used to be rather cheap, but renting is more on the expensive side if you are looking for somthing western style. The realestate agents and landlords are in the know that expats have "some" money to spent for their accomodation. But in general the normal housing allowance for a pilot should be enough to cover the costs of accomodation in SGN, well at least it used to be two years ago. Finding the right place might take some time.
Flying wise well, it's Vietnam Airlines and a lot depends of course which type you are operating. There used to be, and still are, some short comings. In general the working atmosphere, also with the local pilots, was very relaxed and good. Just don't expect any well organzied western style top-notch airline! They are trying, but they can't buy everything, even if they wish they could. Regarding the local pilots, some are very good and some not. The bandwidth is just much biger than in any "normal" run western style airline.
It's not career if you are looking for something like this and it will stay a contract job nothing more nothing less.
So if you are "in between jobs" have a closer look at it, if you are leaving a stable outfit for whatsoever reason, just don't do it, as it is a contract job and nothing for a career. Don't belive the upgrade stories, as you never know!
I spent one year there and looking back I describe it as an interesting time, when I am asked about it. After a while I got fed up with the airline but the rest was realy worth it
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