Airlines are operating over 1,000 empty flights to pick up passengers during the Lunar New Year holiday.

(NLĐO) - Vietnam Airlines has deployed more than 1,000 one-way flights (ferries) without passengers to ensure aircraft can return to airports with large numbers of waiting passengers.

During the peak period of the 2025 Lunar New Year (January 13th to February 12th), Vietnam Airlines Group (including Vietnam Airlines, Pacific Airlines, and VASCO) is estimated to transport nearly 2.4 million passengers, an increase of nearly 16% compared to the same period of the 2024 Lunar New Year.

Vietnam Airlines check-in counter at Noi Bai Airport on the last peak day of the Tet holiday, February 2nd, 2025 (the 5th day of the Lunar New Year, Year of the Snake). Photo: Phan Cong

Specifically, Vietnam Airlines Group operated a total of 15,400 flights, an increase of nearly 200 flights compared to the plan and nearly 2,500 flights, equivalent to a 16% increase compared to the same period of Tet last year. Domestic and international passenger transport reached 1.7 million and 0.7 million passengers respectively, an increase of more than 20% compared to the same period of Tet 2024.

Amidst a shortage of aircraft due to the manufacturer's engine recall, a series of solutions have been implemented by airlines within the Vietnam Airlines Group to increase supply capacity and ensure smooth travel for people during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The airline leased three Airbus A321 aircraft for short-term use to serve passengers during the Lunar New Year holiday, operating nearly 1,200 night or early morning flights, a 52% increase compared to the same period last year, providing over 237,000 additional seats. Accepting the impact on business efficiency due to increased costs and no revenue, the airline still rerouted over 1,000 one-way flights without passengers (ferry flights) to ensure the aircraft could return to airports with high passenger demand.

To ensure safety and service quality, Vietnam Airlines has implemented many comprehensive measures such as technical inspections, maintaining the operational reliability of its aircraft fleet; implementing a two-way fuel carrying method, along with many other solutions to ensure on-time performance even when flight volumes increase dramatically or weather conditions are unfavorable.

The airline closely monitors flight traffic, air traffic control operations, and weather conditions to make timely adjustments to operations, minimizing delays and cascading disruptions.

In addition, Vietnam Airlines continuously analyzes and updates booking data, eliminates fraudulent bookings, and manages its flight schedules scientifically . The airline also mobilizes maximum resources as directed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to support passengers in traveling quickly and conveniently.

Simultaneously, service quality has been upgraded, from airport experience to in-flight services, with a strong emphasis on digital technology , from booking tickets to check-in, creating maximum convenience for customers.

In particular, during the Lunar New Year holiday, the airline implemented many services to cater to passengers' needs for traveling and celebrating the New Year, such as transporting apricot and peach blossoms as checked baggage. On Lunar New Year flights, passengers were also served traditional New Year dishes such as sticky rice with gac fruit, pork sausage, stir-fried pork sausage, meatballs, bamboo shoot soup, meatball soup, etc., or dishes with special ingredients such as five-colored meatballs (also known as five-colored meatballs).

Air cargo volume during Tet holiday reaches "record" highs.

Previously, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam announced that during the Lunar New Year holiday period in 2025 (from January 24th to February 2nd), the total passenger transport volume across the market reached 2.5 million passengers (an increase of 17.8% compared to the same period in 2024). During these nine days, Vietnamese airlines transported over 1.67 million passengers, an increase of 12.8%, and nearly 7,000 tons of cargo, an increase of 4% compared to the same period in 2024.

Airlines have added 15 aircraft to meet peak season demand, bringing the total number of operating aircraft to 212.

Airlines have increased thousands of flights during nighttime hours (Vietnam Airlines has scheduled 1,500 flights, Vietjet 1,590 flights, Bamboo 260 flights)...

Source: https://nld.com.vn/hang-hang-khong-dieu-hon-1000-chuyen-bay-rong-don-khach-dip-tet-196250206150813717.htm