Get to Laos from Singapore by Flight, Singapore to Laos Flight Schedule

An ancient nation that dates back over 10,000 years, Laos once ruled an area three times the size of the current country, including a huge part of Thailand and many of the areas around its borders with the other neighboring nations. Landlocked and laid back, Laos is the ideal destination for a relaxing holiday away from the hustle and bustle of the city life. Relaxation is the key to life in Laos, and everything is done at a much slower pace than in large cities such as Singapore. Officially known as the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the locals jokingly refer to Lao PDR as “Lao, Please Don’t Rush”.

Laos is one of the few places in Asia that has managed to retain its traditions despite the pressure from foreign tourists to make the place more “western”. Unlike many of the countries in the region, Laos has a timeless quality of life, where stilt houses stick up out of lakes and paddy fields filled with rice look as if they came straight out of a National geographic photo shoot.

Monks in saffron robes wander the streets asking for alms to support their monasteries, and are seen in many streets early in the morning. One of the iconic images of Lao life, these monks often give the money collected to the poor and other beggars with no food, taking little back for their own monastery.

Luang Prabang

Life in Laos is laid-back and slow, with more focus on eco-tourism and community tourism than on the idea of mass tourism within the country. This has led to it being hailed as one of the most peaceful places in Asia to visit, and it is even shown in the way the people react to tourism. Locals are very friendly, and will gladly stop and chat with tourists, and the service in most places is exceedingly good.

Traveling to Laos from Singapore is one of the easier trips to get to the country, and there are a number of flights that leave daily for the Laotian airports in Luang Prabang and Vientiane. With a budding tourism industry within the country, Laos is slowly building an improved tourist infrastructure to make things better for the foreign travelers without damaging the delicate balance of the environment. And as a developing nation in Southeast Asia, it is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination for those from Singapore for the holiday of a lifetime.

Singapore Airport

Singapore’s famous Changi Airport is the primary international airport for the city-state of Singapore, and one of the largest air transport hubs in Southeast Asia. Rated as the world’s best airport for six years from 2013 to 2018, it is one of the world’s busiest airports for passenger traffic.

Changi Airport

Located in the Changi District of Singapore, at the eastern end of the island, the airport serves over 400 cities with around 100 different airlines. More than 7,000 flights depart or arrive at the airport every week from its four passenger terminals,, as well as its private luxury JetQuay CIP Terminal for private jets. The airport is connected to the city through its own Changi Airport Skytrain, as well as the Mass Rapid transport rail system, service buses from several bus companies, and a huge rank of local taxis that run in and out of the airport.

Flights to Laos

With more than 40 flights per day to Laos from Singapore, there are a huge number to choose from, both direct and indirect flights. However, there are actually very few direct flights to Laos, and only land at Vientiane and Luang Prabang.

Vientiane Wattay International Airport

Currently, there is only one carrier offering direct flights to Vientiane’s Wattay International Airport, and is the relatively new airline, SilkAir. The flights leave every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday at around 1:25pm local time, and take around 2 hours 50 minutes to complete the trip.

However, there are a large number of indirect flights that leave Singapore for Vientiane daily, and are offered by Jetstar Asia, Bangkok Airways, Vietnam Airlines, Lao Airlines, Thai Airways International, and the new Thai Smile branch of Thai Airways. These indirect flights stop at either Bangkok or Hanoi before getting your flight on to Vientiane, and the flight times range from 4 hours 40 minutes to around 6 hours 15 minutes.

Vientiane Wattay International Airport

Prices for the flights to Vientiane vary, depending on the route taken, and range from US$ 70 for a one-way economy indirect flight to as much as US$ 210 for the direct flight to Vientiane. The difference here is huge, and for those who are not worried by a few hours wait in the airport at Bangkok of Hanoi for the connecting flight, it is worth it for the massive savings you can make on the cost of the flight.

Luang Prabang International Airport

There are currently no direct flights from Singapore to Luang Prabang, since the only airline that provided them, Lao Airlines, has cancelled the direct flights until further notice. However, with a ghuge number of carriers offering one and two-stop flights, there are plenty of alternatives that can take from around four and a half hours to reach your destination.

Offered by SilkAir, Air Asia, Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways, Vietnam Airlines, and Lao Airlines, the one-stop flights range in flight times from 4 hours 35 minutes to around 7 hours 25 minutes, depending on the stopover time and flight changes at the midway airport. Most of the flights have their stopover in Bangkok at either Don Muang or Suvarnabhumi airports, while others stopover in Hanoi or Kuala Lumpur. The single two-stop flight from Singapore to Luang Prabang stops in Koh Samui, where you will change for Suvarnabhumi International Airport, and then change again for the final leg of the flights to Luang Prabang, taking 7 hours 25 minutes.

Luang Prabang International Airport

It is interesting to note that the flight from Singapore to Luang Prabang provided by SilkAir actually has its stopover in Vientiane. This is the same flight that runs direct to Wattay International Airport every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, and it makes the short hop to Luang Prabang after dropping in Vientiane, before making a return trip to Singapore direct from Luang Prabang.

A single one-way economy flight to Luang Prabang from Singapore costs from around US$ 90 to as much as US$ 260, depending on the route, and all of the flights that stopover in Bangkok and Hanoi run daily. With a larger number of flights to Luang Prabang, it is the better choice for travelers, and can make your flights cheaper than flying direct.

Other Flight Options

While the direct and indirect flights to Laos are the better way to travel to the country, there are other options for travel to Laos from Singapore, which can be just as cheap and are an interesting experience.

Fly to Nakhon Phanom

If you are heading for the central region of Laos, then you can take a slightly different route to Laos, going via flight to Nakhon Phanom in Thailand, and then driving or taking a bus across the border to Thakhek in Laos. The flight to Nakhon Phanom runs via Don Muang Airport in Bangkok, and takes around 6 hours 25 minutes. With a low cost from around US$ 85 for the one-way economy flight, it is a good option, and you can spend some time in the delightful town of Nakhon Phanom before heading across the border. With no requirement for a visa for the nationals of over 57 countries around the world for up to thirty days, of which Singapore is included, it is a nice route to take for those heading for Savannakhet who have a little time to travel across the border.

Nakhon Phanom

The crossing point is at the Third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge that spans the Mekong River, and the total distance is around 44 kilometers. Local buses run from nearby Sakon Nakhon to Thakhek in Laos, picking up at Nakhon Phanom along the route. From Thakhek, there are local buses that run to Savannakhet, which are fairly inexpensive and take just 3 hours to cover the 128 kilometers to the city.

Fly to Udon Thani

An alternative route for getting to Vientiane is to fly from Singapore to Udon Thani in Thailand, then taking the train to Nong Khai on the Thai-Lao border crossing at Thanaleng. The crossing goes over the First Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge across the Mekong River, and is a short distance from Vientiane by bus or car.

The flight to Udon Thani from Singapore goes via either Bangkok or Phuket, and takes from 4 hours 20 minutes to 7 hours 35 minutes, depending on the route and flight. Prices vary from US$ 130 to as much as US$ 260, and all flights run daily from Singapore.

From Udon Thani, you take the train to Nong Kai, near the border with Laos, which takes around 45-50 minutes, then cross the border at the bridge by local taxi or tuk-tuk to Thanaleng. From Thanaleng it is a short ride of around an hour to cover the 32 kilometers to Vientiane by bus or car. Buses run several times a day from the border to the Lao capital, and cost just 1-2 dollars.

Whichever route you take, be it the direct route to Vientiane by flight, or the more adventurous route to Thailand and then across the land border crossings to Laos, you are guaranteed to have the time of your life in Laos.