Airfares do not increase during National Day holiday

As of August 18, occupancy rates on trunk and tourist routes remained low, with many seats remaining. Photo: NIA

According to the Government Electronic Newspaper, currently on the online air ticket sales systems for the National Day holiday of September 2 (departing on August 31, returning on September 4), air ticket prices during this holiday have hardly increased, and there are still quite a lot of empty seats. Individual customers or small groups can still easily book tickets through the websites.

Airfares have not increased much.

For example, the round-trip ticket price of VietJet flight departing from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang on August 29 and returning on September 3 is about 1.6 million VND/person; the round-trip ticket price of Vietnam Airlines is less than 2 million VND/person... Flights are spread throughout the day, there are flights booked close to holidays, for example, the flight departing from Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc on August 31 has a price from 903,000 VND to nearly 1.2 million VND/person...

From Hanoi, the average round-trip airfare to Phu Quoc (including taxes and fees) is 3.4 million VND/ticket; the outbound flight is only half the return flight price.

Flights from Hanoi to Da Nang, round trip ticket price is 3.4 million VND, Hanoi to Nha Trang 3.6 million VND, Hanoi to Quy Nhon 4 million VND.

The flight from Hanoi to Tuy Hoa (Phu Yen) is the most expensive during the September 2 holiday, costing up to 6.4 million VND/round trip ticket. This is because only Vietnam Airlines is currently operating this route, Vietjet Air has stopped flying for a long time.

From Ho Chi Minh City, the round-trip ticket price (including tax and fees) to Da Nang is on average 3 million VND/ticket, to Nha Trang from 2.6-2.8 million VND, to Phu Quoc 2.5 million VND, to Hanoi from 3.35 million VND.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (Ministry of Transport) stated that, up to now, airfares for the National Day holiday on September 2nd have been stable, not much different from the peak summer season. Airfares tend to increase on the first day of the holiday for departure and the last day for return. All Vietnamese airlines are selling domestic airfares according to the prescribed price range.

There are still many seats left on the tour routes.

According to a summary from airlines, as of August 18, the occupancy rate on trunk routes and tourist routes remains low, with many remaining seats.

On the main routes of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang, the occupancy rate of new flights is 30-40%.

For tourist flights, except for the flight from Hanoi to Phu Quoc, Binh Dinh and Con Dao or the flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Binh Dinh, the booking rate is over 40%, while the other flights are all low, ranging from 25% to under 40%.

Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam Dinh Viet Son said: On the occasion of the September 2 holiday this year, transportation demand did not increase compared to the same period in 2022. The Civil Aviation Authority will continue to coordinate with airlines, monitor and assess market demand to plan to increase flights, promptly meeting the travel needs of passengers during the September 2 holiday.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam cited data compiled from airlines showing that the total number of flights expected to operate during the peak holiday season of September 2 (from August 31 to September 5) is more than 5,300, with a total of 1.06 million seats available, an increase of about 20% compared to normal and a slight decrease (3%) compared to the same period in 2022.

According to Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, Marketing and Communications Director of Vietluxtour Travel, the sales of upcoming holiday tours are not very exciting because many families have taken advantage of the summer to travel. This tour is considered a quick vacation for many families before their children start the new school year. Tourism businesses also do not expect a breakthrough in holiday tour growth because many families have just finished their summer vacation, not to mention the general economic situation also affects tourists' spending. On the other hand, many localities are entering the rainy season, some provinces in the Central Highlands, East and Northwest are prone to landslides, so tourists are quite cautious when choosing these places to visit.

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