After conducting an inspection of ticket sales, declaration and posting of airfares, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam concluded: All airlines comply with the airfares of Circular 17 and Circular 34 on domestic routes. At the same time, they strictly follow the regulations on price posting and declaration as prescribed.
On May 11, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam sent a report to the Ministry of Transport on the results of the review and inspection of ticket sales, declaration and listing of airfares of Vietnamese airlines.
The inspection was conducted from May 7 to 9, with airlines Vietnam Airlines (VNA), VietJet Air, Bamboo Airways and Vietravel Airlines; and at the ticket agents of the airlines (2 ticket agents of VNA, Vietjet and 1 agent each of Bamboo Airways, Vietravel Airlines), focusing on the period from January 1 to May 4.
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In addition, the Civil Aviation Authority also reviewed the airline's ticket sales situation, especially during the April 30-May 1 holiday; airfare policies for the peak summer season this year; Management and inspection of airline ticket sales agents (airline regulations for agents, sanctions in case agents violate the contract); and the airline's complaint settlement work for passengers in airline ticket sales activities.
During the process of working with 4 airlines and 6 airline ticket agents, the Civil Aviation Authority found that: All airlines declare prices according to the passenger transport service price frame prescribed by the Ministry of Transport.
Based on the domestic passenger transport price frame, each airline will have different prices. Specifically, VNA has 17 prices, Vietjet has 20 prices, Bamboo Airways has 12-15 prices and Vietravel Airlines has 18 prices for each flight. These prices do not exceed the maximum level according to regulations.
The inspection results also showed that the airlines have fully listed ticket prices, including transportation service fees, system administration surcharges, system service surcharges, utility service surcharges, ticket booking service surcharges (if any), collection fees (passenger service and passenger and baggage security) and VAT. When passengers access the ticket sales websites of the airlines, after selecting the itinerary and departure date, they will receive full ticket price information that must be paid before purchasing the ticket.
Surcharges included in the ticket price such as system administration surcharge, system service surcharge of airlines range from 430,000 - 480,000 VND depending on the airline and are shown in the surcharge section (along with taxes, fees and other collection items; however, the information display is not consistent between airlines).
For tickets sold directly at the ticket office, airlines charge an additional fee of about 50,000 VND and this fee does not apply when customers buy online on the airline's official website, mobile application, or other official online airline ticket sales channels (affiliated banks, electronic agents such as Traveloka, aBay, VnPay...).
In addition, additional service surcharges (not mandatory) depending on passenger needs (seat selection, additional checked baggage purchase, meal selection, travel insurance...) are also listed and made public by airlines on their official websites. When customers choose to use the service, they will receive full information about the costs to be paid before payment.
Also in the Report, in the period from January 1 to April 30, 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, domestic and economy class ticket prices of airlines basically increased. Specifically, on 3 main routes (including: Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi-Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City-Da Nang), ticket prices increased respectively: VNA (19.9%; 28.4% and 14.9%), Vietjet (17.9%; 39.9% and 27.0%), Bamboo Airways (2.1%; 24.4% and 22.5%), Vietravel Airlines (10.2%; 17.7% and 18.6%).
It is worth mentioning that while people are "complaining" about the sky-high airfares recently, the review results of the Civil Aviation Authority recorded: With 3 main routes (Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Hanoi - Da Nang and HCMC - Da Nang), although there is an increase in the proportion of high-priced segments, the majority of the ticket price structure sold by airlines is still in the low and medium price segments (from 60% - 70% of the number of tickets sold).
There are also routes that recorded a high increase in the rate of mid- and low-cost segments. Specifically, on the Ho Chi Minh City-Da Nang route, VNA and Vietjet both increased the number of low-cost segment tickets by +5% and +8% respectively; on the Ho Chi Minh City-Hanoi route, Bamboo Airways and Vietjet both increased the number of low-cost segment tickets by +7% and +11% respectively...
However, if we look at the detailed table of changes in ticket prices and the proportion of high, medium and low price segments on some domestic routes of airlines, we can see that, in the period from January 1 to April 30 this year, the proportion of high-priced ticket segments in the total price range of a flight of most airlines increased compared to the same period in 2023.
For example, VNA's Ho Chi Minh City - Phu Quoc route this year has the highest rate of high-priced tickets, accounting for 52.8%, while in the same period last year it was only 32.4%; Bamboo Airways' Hanoi - Da Nang route has this rate increased from 15.4% to 26.1%; Vietravel Airlines has the highest increase in the high-priced range on the Hanoi - Da Nang route, from 9.4% in 2023 to 22% this year.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam concluded: All airlines comply with the airfares of Circular 17 and Circular 34 on domestic routes. At the same time, they comply with the regulations on listing and declaring prices as prescribed. However, in displaying information about ticket prices on the website, airlines have not shown them consistently and there are contents of fees that can easily cause misunderstandings about the way they are called/named, leading to passengers not knowing the details of the amounts payable in the total ticket price to be paid.
Information about promotional programs and ticket discount policies of airlines has not been widely communicated, leading to reduced ability of customers to access information and buy at suitable prices.
The Civil Aviation Authority has asked four airlines to review and adjust the way information is displayed, clarifying the items that customers must pay in the displayed ticket price. It is expected that the Civil Aviation Authority will work with the airlines to unify the display method, ensuring clear and complete information.
According to the Communist Party of Vietnam Electronic Newspaper
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