Hundreds of thousands of seats added, but Tet flight tickets are still 'tight'

Flight tickets for many routes before and after Tet are fully booked.

PHOTO: NGOC DUONG

Just added flight and 100% of seats are filled

According to information from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the additional flights are focused on routes from Ho Chi Minh City to the Central provinces during the period from January 22 to February 8. Of which, the route Ho Chi Minh City - Buon Ma Thuot increased by 26 trips, Ho Chi Minh City - Quy Nhon increased by 37 trips, Ho Chi Minh City - Thanh Hoa increased by 32 trips, Ho Chi Minh City - Chu Lai increased by 34 trips...

Despite the addition of more flights, many routes from Ho Chi Minh City to other localities are quickly filling up during the days before Tet and in the opposite direction during the period after Tet. Many routes continue to have a 100% booking rate such as: Hanoi - Buon Ma Thuot, from Ho Chi Minh City to Hue, Pleiku, Tuy Hoa, Quy Nhon, Buon Ma Thuot, Quang Binh, Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Chu Lai, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Hue...

For the main routes such as Ho Chi Minh City - Da Nang , Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi, Hanoi - Da Nang, Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City, the occupancy rate in the period from January 25 to February 2 (ie December 26 to January 5 of the lunar calendar) is increasing rapidly, especially on the Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City - Da Nang routes, some days near Tet have seen high rates, over 90%.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam is working with airlines to research and implement additional flights on routes with high booking rates, especially those with booking rates of over 90%; at the same time, continue to operate night flights, based on the capacity of airlines, airport infrastructure conditions and ensuring absolute safety and security during operations.

"The Authority will also continue to support airlines in management work, coordinate with units in the industry so that airlines can add more flights on domestic routes, meeting people's travel needs during the Lunar New Year holiday in 2025," the aviation authority informed.

Many routes only have business class tickets left

The latest data from the Civil Aviation Authority on airfares during the Lunar New Year continues to reflect the law of supply and demand directly affecting prices during the Lunar New Year. The strong increase in demand has caused some flights from Ho Chi Minh City to other provinces and cities to quickly run out of economy class tickets in the days leading up to Tet, although airlines have balanced resources, chartered more aircraft, increased frequencies and added capacity on many domestic routes. On the other hand, due to low demand, airfares are very cheap, with some routes starting from 0 VND, but few people buy them and airlines have to operate many empty flights.

For example, on January 22 (ie December 23 of the lunar calendar), flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh, Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa and key routes such as Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi are being listed by airlines at prices of about 2.9 million VND for basic economy class (excluding taxes and fees).

On January 25 (the first day of the holiday), flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang, Hue, Nha Trang, Thanh Hoa, Pleiku, and Vinh were all sold out of economy class tickets, and on some days there were even no business class tickets left.

On the other hand, when flights had to return to Ho Chi Minh City with empty seats, ticket prices dropped to a much lower level. Therefore, airlines have implemented preferential fare policies to optimize operating efficiency. Specifically, on January 22, 25, and 27, ticket prices from provinces such as Buon Ma Thuot, Hue, Thanh Hoa, Pleiku, Dong Hoi, Chu Lai... to Ho Chi Minh City were listed at low levels: Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air from only 90,000 VND; Vietjet Air launched promotional tickets of 0 VND for the routes from Hai Phong, Vinh, Hanoi; Bamboo Airways and Vietravel Airlines offered tickets from 25,000 VND on the routes from Da Nang, Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.

For flights such as Hanoi - Da Nang, Hanoi - Quy Nhon, Hanoi - Phu Quoc, the round-trip fares are relatively stable at around 1 - 3 million VND. However, on January 25, routes such as Hanoi - Quy Nhon, Hanoi - Phu Quoc recorded full economy class tickets due to high demand.

The last day of the holiday (February 2) recorded a sharp increase in ticket prices from the Northern and Central provinces to Ho Chi Minh City, many flights were sold out of economy class tickets such as routes from Buon Ma Thuot, Hue, Nha Trang, Thanh Hoa, Pleiku, Dong Hoi, Vinh, Chu Lai...

After the holiday, on February 8, the two-way ticket price trend still had a clear difference. Routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang, Pleiku, Vinh, Hanoi were only from 0 VND, while the return ticket price remained high.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tang-cuong-tram-ngan-ghe-ve-may-bay-tet-van-cang-185250113113121439.htm