Millions of airline tickets go on sale for Tet holiday.
With just over a month left until the New Year's Day holiday and over three months until the Lunar New Year holiday, domestic airlines have started selling tickets early to meet the travel needs of the public.
A representative from Vietnam Airlines stated that this year, the airline began selling Tet holiday flight tickets in mid-September. "Approximately 3 million Tet holiday flight tickets for the Year of the Dragon 2024 have been made available for sale across all distribution channels, from our website and mobile app to our ticket offices and official agents," the Vietnam Airlines representative said, adding that these 3 million tickets are for flights across the airline's domestic and international network, valid for travel dates from January 25th to February 24th, 2024 (corresponding to the 15th day of the 12th lunar month of the Year of the Rabbit to the 15th day of the 1st lunar month of the Year of the Dragon).
Out of a total of 3 million Tet holiday flight tickets offered across the entire domestic and international network (approximately 15,000 flights), 2 million are domestic (10,300 flights) and 1 million are international (4,650 flights). The representative also stated that, based on passenger demand, the airline is focusing on increasing flights on domestic routes connecting the three major cities of Hanoi , Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City with other provinces and cities such as Hai Phong, Vinh, Thanh Hoa, Hue, Quy Nhon, Quang Nam, Pleiku, Da Lat, Buon Ma Thuot, Nha Trang, and Phu Quoc… For the international network, the routes with the most available seats are between Vietnam and Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Australia, France, and Germany.
Similarly, Vietjet customers can now purchase Tet holiday flight tickets on routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, Vinh, Thanh Hoa, Hai Phong, Da Lat, Phu Yen, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, etc., with a total of over 2.5 million seats. The number of tickets offered by Bamboo Airways and Vietravel Airlines also ranges from 700,000 to 1 million seats across their entire flight networks.
Domestic flights are more expensive than international flights.
According to a survey conducted by reporters on November 16th, while there are still many airline tickets available for the Lunar New Year holiday, they are not cheap. Specifically, if choosing to fly the Hanoi-Phu Quoc route with Vietnam Airlines on December 29th, 2023 and returning on January 1st, 2024, customers will have more than 20 flights to choose from, but the lowest price is 4.1 million VND/one-way and the highest is 13.1 million VND/one-way. Thus, the lowest price for a family of four round-trip tickets would range from 33.86 million VND to 104 million VND. Meanwhile, for the same period, if customers choose to fly from Hanoi to Thailand, the round-trip ticket price for four people is only from 29.18 million VND. Similarly, while there are still quite a few airline tickets available for the Lunar New Year holiday, they are not much cheaper.
According to the survey, if flying the Hanoi-Phu Quoc route on February 10, 2024 (the first day of Tet) and returning on February 13, 2024 (the fourth day of Tet), the lowest price for an early flight is 4.3 million VND/one-way/person; the highest price is 13.3 million VND/one-way/person. The Hanoi-Nha Trang route on February 11 (the second day of Tet), returning on February 17 (the eighth day of Tet), costs 5.87 million VND with VietJet Air; 6.68 million VND with Bamboo Airways; and 7.1 million VND with Vietnam Airlines. Also departing on February 11 and returning on February 17, the Hanoi-Da Lat route costs 4.6 million VND/one-way with VietJet Air; and 7.1 million VND/one-way with Bamboo Airways. Meanwhile, the Hanoi-Da Nang route costs 3.31 million VND/one-way with VietJet Air. Vietravel Airlines costs 3.2 million VND; Bamboo Airways costs 5.1 million VND and Vietnam Airlines costs 4.97 million VND/one-way.
Not only the aforementioned route, but according to reporters' observations from Vietnamese airline ticket sales websites, no route or flight has yet reported sold-out tickets. Round-trip airfare for the Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi route on Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways is around 7 million VND for most time slots. Vietjet is currently offering tickets for 6.37 million VND for the same route. Prices for routes with high demand from workers returning home for Tet, such as Thanh Hoa and Vinh, are similar or 200-300 thousand VND lower depending on the flight time and airline. One of the main reasons for the sluggish Tet air ticket market, according to travel agencies, is the high ticket prices coupled with a difficult economic situation.
Ms. Nguyen Sinh (Giang Vo, Hanoi) - the owner of a long-standing airline ticket agency - said: "Never before has the atmosphere of selling Tet (Lunar New Year) airline tickets been as quiet as this year. However, the nature of airline tickets is that they have many different price ranges, sold from low to high according to the principle of cheaper tickets being sold first. The further in advance passengers buy tickets, the more opportunities they have to save money. To save money, passengers should buy tickets as soon as they have a plan; the closer to the flight date, the higher the price will be because many customers have already bought the cheaper tickets."
However, Ms. Sinh also affirmed that it's unlikely to be extremely cheap for Tet holiday air tickets; it's simply a matter of "every penny counts" because this is always a time when people's travel demand surges. Increased demand naturally leads to airlines selling tickets at higher prices. The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam also advises passengers to proactively plan their schedules early and purchase tickets as soon as possible. Airlines selling Tet tickets early also gives people the opportunity to proactively plan and arrange their itineraries accordingly.
While the Tet holiday air ticket market remains relatively quiet, the Tet train ticket market is quite bustling. By early November, the railway industry had sold 71,000 Tet train tickets for various routes. In just the first day of ticket sales (October 20th), the railway industry successfully sold over 40,000 tickets (successful tickets are those that have been transacted and paid for). Currently, many Tet train tickets are still available on all routes and dates. People wishing to purchase tickets should contact train stations, online ticket sales websites, e-wallet applications, train ticket sales apps, and the ticket sales hotline. This year's Tet train ticket prices have increased by an average of 1-4% compared to last year, depending on the route and type of train during peak season. During off-peak season, train ticket prices have decreased by 1-8% compared to last year. The highest price for a Tet holiday train ticket (sleeper berth on the Saigon - Hanoi route) is 2,950,000 VND, while the lowest price (seated berth on the Saigon - Hanoi route) is around 1,950,000 VND. The price for an extra seat will be approximately 80% of the lowest price on the Saigon - Hanoi route (around 1.5 million VND). Although train tickets for Tet have increased slightly compared to the peak Tet season last year, they are still very affordable compared to other modes of transportation such as airplanes.
Source
Comment (0)