Airlines continuously increase flights, but Tet airfare prices remain 'sizzling'

Airlines are continuously increasing flights to meet passenger demand during the Lunar New Year holiday of the Year of the Dragon, but due to high booking rates, ticket prices remain extremely high.

Ticket prices remain extremely high.

Vietnam Airlines has added four leased Airbus A320 aircraft, supplementing its fleet with nearly 1,000 additional flights during the peak Tet holiday season. These additional aircraft have a capacity of 180 passengers and are served by Vietnam Airlines and foreign flight attendants according to the airline's service standards, excluding the entertainment system.

Thus, as of now, Vietnam Airlines Group (including Vietnam Airlines, Pacific Airlines, and VASCO) is expected to provide a total of 2.86 million seats during the peak Tet holiday season across its entire domestic and international flight network.

*Passengers checking in at Noi Bai Airport. (Illustrative photo: Vien Minh)*

Vietjet has also just announced an increase of nearly 750 flights, equivalent to 154,800 seats, to serve the peak Tet holiday season. These additional flights mainly cater to the demand for returning home for Tet and for tourism, such as flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, Hai Phong, Chu Lai, Tuy Hoa, Da Nang, Hue, and Quy Nhon.

According to Mr. Dinh Viet Thang, Director of the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority, last week airlines added 324 more flights from Ho Chi Minh City to local airports and vice versa on routes with high booking rates, corresponding to nearly 61,000 seats.

However, the situation regarding ticket sales and reservations for the Lunar New Year of the Dragon in 2024 (the period from February 1st, 2024 to February 19th, 2024) is still extremely heated.

Specifically, a survey conducted by VTC News on the morning of January 28th showed that airfares for additional flights were not cheap at all. Notably, night flights were not even cheaper than daytime flights.

Accordingly, a round-trip ticket on Vietravel Airlines for the Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi route, departing on February 6th and returning on February 17th (the 27th and 8th day of the Lunar New Year), costs from over 6.5 to over 7.1 million VND depending on the flight; Vietjet Air tickets for all flights cost nearly 7 million VND/round trip.

Bamboo Airways has recently added more than 10 flights, with round-trip fares starting at over 7.5 million VND. Vietnam Airlines, on the other hand, only has a few flights left with economy class tickets priced at over 7.3 million VND/round trip. Most of the airline's flights on the Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City route on February 17th only have business class tickets available at nearly 10 million VND/one-way.

A survey of round-trip airfares for the Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi route, departing on February 8th and returning on February 14th (the 29th and 5th day of the Lunar New Year), shows that Vietnam Airlines fares from 8.5 to 9 million VND/ticket; Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airways fare from 6 to 7 million VND/ticket; and Vietravel Airlines fares from 5.5 million VND/ticket.

Flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hai Phong cost nearly 7 million VND/round-trip ticket. However, there are no flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Van Don (Quang Ninh), with only a few seats remaining on Vietnam Airlines flights from February 6-10, 2024, priced from 6.7 to 8.2 million VND/ticket.

What is the booking rate?

Specifically, flights from Ho Chi Minh City have very high booking rates, spread evenly from February 2nd to February 9th, 2024, and gradually decreasing from the days after the Lunar New Year 2024.

Notable routes include Ho Chi Minh City-Buon Ma Thuot; Ho Chi Minh City-Quy Nhon; Ho Chi Minh City-Chu Lai, with booking rates ranging from 82-100%; Ho Chi Minh City-Da Nang; Ho Chi Minh City-Hai Phong; Ho Chi Minh City-Vinh, with booking rates from 79-95%; Ho Chi Minh City-Hue; Ho Chi Minh City-Pleiku, with booking rates from 84-98%; Ho Chi Minh City-Tuy Hoa; Ho Chi Minh City-Thanh Hoa, with booking rates from 80-92%; Ho Chi Minh City-Quang Binh, with booking rates from 88-106%…

*Domestic airfares during the Lunar New Year holiday are so high that many people are changing their travel plans to overseas instead of domestic travel.*

Return flights from local airports to Ho Chi Minh City are experiencing high booking rates on many routes, with some routes already sold out for peak days after the Lunar New Year (from February 11th to February 19th, 2024, which is the 4th to the 10th day of the first lunar month).

Specifically, the booking rates for the Buon Me Thuot-Ho Chi Minh City and Ca Mau-Ho Chi Minh City routes range from 77-100%; Hai Phong-Ho Chi Minh City, Hue-Ho Chi Minh City, and Vinh-Ho Chi Minh City from 83-96%; Pleiku-Ho Chi Minh City from 94-100%; Tuy Hoa-Ho Chi Minh City, Thanh Hoa-Ho Chi Minh City, and Chu Lai-Ho Chi Minh City from 83-99%; Quy Nhon-Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Hoi-Ho Chi Minh City from 86-105%…

The Ho Chi Minh City-Hanoi route currently has the lowest booking rate for the period from February 1st to February 9th, 2024 (corresponding to the 22nd to 30th of the 12th lunar month), averaging between 56% and 82%, with February 3rd, 4th, and 7th exceeding 80%.

Conversely, during this period, the booking rate only reached between 40% and over 60%. From February 13th to February 18th, 2024 (corresponding to the 4th to 9th days of the first lunar month), the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City route had a high booking rate. Except for February 13th, when the rate was just over 51%, the remaining days all had rates above 80%, with February 17th and 18th reaching 93-94%.

Tourism businesses fear losses.

According to experts, domestic airfares during the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Dragon increased by 10-30% compared to normal days and even compared to last year's Lunar New Year, with some routes even having higher prices than international flights.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Hong (Hanoi) said that her family had planned a 4-day, 3-night trip to Phu Quoc this Tet holiday, but after researching, the trip cost nearly 9 million VND per person. If the whole family of four goes, the cost would be over 36 million VND, not including additional expenses.

"Because domestic tour prices are very high, I surveyed a 4-day, 3-night tour to Thailand and found that it only costs between 7.49 million and 9.99 million VND, which is not much higher than a domestic tour," Ms. Hong said.

According to Ms. Hong, tourists traveling to Thailand by plane from Vietnam to Bangkok and visiting places like Safari World zoo, taking a boat trip on the Chao Phraya River, visiting the Emerald Buddha Temple (the largest temple in Bangkok), and staying in a 3-star hotel... all cost just over 9 million VND per person, the same as a domestic trip.

"Domestic tours are very expensive due to the impact of domestic airfare, so my family decided to cancel our plans to travel domestically during Tet. Instead, my family chose to go on an all-inclusive tour to Thailand at a cost comparable to a trip to Phu Quoc," said Ms. Hong.

Domestic airfares during the peak Tet holiday season of the Year of the Dragon increased significantly, especially on routes from the South to the North, causing concern among many tourism businesses that domestic tour packages would struggle to compete with international tours on shorter routes.

Mr. Tran The Dung, General Director of Vietluxtour Travel Joint Stock Company, cited an example: a 4-day, 5-night tour from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi costing 10 million VND shows that airfare alone accounts for more than 50%. Meanwhile, a tour from Ho Chi Minh City to Thailand for the same duration costs only 7-9 million VND.

"The high domestic airfares are forcing travel companies to adjust domestic tour prices upwards by 10-20%. If customers don't travel, to keep tours going, businesses are forced to steer customers towards cheaper, high-quality overseas travel, which will significantly reduce the domestic tourism market and make it difficult for Vietnamese tourism to attract visitors," Mr. Dung said.

Analysts say that, among all services, airfare prices have a huge impact; even a small adjustment can instantly change travelers' decisions. In the mindset of many Vietnamese people, traveling abroad is considered more prestigious than traveling domestically. This puts significant pressure on travel businesses.

Therefore, airlines and the aviation industry need to consider reducing ticket prices, especially avoiding price increases during peak seasons, so that Vietnamese tourists prioritize domestic tours.

Source: https://vtc.vn/hang-khong-lien-tuc-tang-chuyen-gia-ve-may-bay-tet-van-nong-ham-hap-ar850231.html

Source