Redrawing the tourism aviation market

Piloting aviation, traveling in the right direction "flying together"

Sun PhuQuoc Airways (SPA) is the first airline in Vietnam to be named after a place in the country. The reason Sun Group established the airline and named it after Phu Quoc Island (An Giang), according to Mr. Nguyen Manh Quan, General Director of SPA, is to demonstrate the aspiration, ideology, and spirit of nation building of Sun Group with the desire to help Phu Quoc develop commensurate with its inherent potential. In this area, Sun Group also owns a series of key real estate and tourism projects and is the investor of the Phu Quoc International Airport expansion project. For Sun Group, this is the final piece in the ecosystem - from resort tourism, entertainment to infrastructure and real estate of this group.

Vẽ lại thị trường hàng không du lịch- Ảnh 1. — SPA does not hide its ambition to "redraw" the aviation market associated with domestic tourism.

"Society and consumers are in dire need of choices. SPA is committed to providing the Vietnamese aviation market with another quality choice before expanding abroad. The airline aims to provide all passengers with a complete, seamless experience before, during and after each flight. This will also help increase competitiveness and service quality in the aviation industry," explained the SPA General Director.

In fact, domestic passengers do not have many options at present. The high-end segment (full service) is almost entirely in the hands of Vietnam Airlines after Bamboo Airways weakened. In the low-cost segment (LCC), Vietjet also occupies almost the entire market share after the period when Pacific Airlines had to pay off all its aircraft, while Vietravel Airlines has just started the process of replenishing its resources. However, because the race has been too long without new elements, combined with the shortage of aircraft in the whole market, the boundaries between segments are increasingly blurred.

During peak periods, the ticket prices of Vietjet, Pacific Airlines, and Vietravel Airlines have all risen to nearly the same level as those of Vietnam Airlines. In other words, airlines are jointly establishing a new level of airfare prices that are increasing day by day. As a result, although always considered "a pair of twins" or "two wings of an airplane", aviation and tourism always go in opposite directions. High airfares hinder people's travel needs. There was even a time when tourism hubs like Phu Quoc were "boycotted" because airfares were too expensive.

During the gestation period of Vietravel Airlines, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ky, former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietravel Airlines, also cherished the ambition of forming a closed aviation - tourism ecosystem to proactively use resources, save costs, and join forces to promote the tourism industry to develop more and more sustainably with diverse products. Previously, Bamboo Airways also considered strengthening the connection of customers to existing accommodation facilities as a strategy when starting operations. Unfortunately, for many reasons, both airlines soon had to change direction and become purely commercial airlines.

In the world, this model has been applied by many large travel agencies for a long time. For example, the largest travel agency in Europe, TUI, is also the world's largest charter airline with a fleet of nearly 60 aircraft. In China, the largest travel agency, Shanghai Spring Tour, also owns more than 120 aircraft, serving more than 15 million passengers each year. On the other hand, many low-cost airlines are also tending to sell additional tourism products, such as AirAsia, which provides hotel booking services, tours, etc. This is also a "trick" to increase the revenue of airlines in the context of increasing competition in the market.

Therefore, the birth of SPA hopes to revive the tourism aviation model, bringing the "two wings of the plane" back to a state of balance to take off together.

Promoting Vietnamese aviation to reach international level

Economist Vo Tri Thanh, former Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management and Research, assessed: Sun Group has the advantage of a high-class tourism ecosystem. From accommodation to entertainment, iconic projects, etc., all products of the enterprise have proven their class, not only in the domestic market but also recognized by the media and international tourists. Having an additional airline will help complete the complete tourism ecosystem, creating seamless experiences, helping tourists have complete journeys with stable service quality from start to finish. In the context of tourism being identified as a key economic sector that needs to be promoted to create a sustainable double-digit economic growth in the coming period, the birth of SPA is considered a huge boost: both expanding the market, diversifying tourism products, and creating competition to open opportunities for many people to move around.

Vẽ lại thị trường hàng không du lịch- Ảnh 2. — SPA was born with the desire to help Phu Quoc develop commensurate with its inherent potential.

"In principle, the more competitive the market is, the more consumers benefit. Competition here is healthy competition, developing together, not only in price but also in quality and service. Aviation competition is not only between domestic airlines but also international ones. The more airlines compete to add products and improve services, the more the Vietnamese aviation industry will increase its position in the international arena," Mr. Vo Tri Thanh said.

Associate Professor Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, former Director of the Vietnam Economic Institute, also acknowledged: Having an additional airline will increase competition not only in the Vietnamese market but also internationally. Considering only the domestic market, having a new "player" will certainly expand the space and competitive force, creating a stronger and better push for the market. Ultimately, the beneficiaries will be consumers. SPA's target audience is international tourists and the class is also quite high, so the benefits affecting the market and people will also be shown step by step, through quality.

According to Mr. Thien, Sun Group's opening of an airline with a strong international focus at this time is absolutely timely. In addition to Vietnam's huge need for international connectivity, we are launching an opportunistic event, APEC 2027, in Phu Quoc. All of Phu Quoc's preparations and the major destinations of Vietnam integrated into this event will create a strong driving force and breakthrough for tourism, contributing to creating opportunities for Vietnam to score points with the world. Therefore, SPA will effectively support the flow of international visitors from other countries to Phu Quoc pearl island on the occasion of APEC 2027.

"The aviation industry has the opportunity to transform and develop very quickly domestically, reaching out to compete with world aviation. With the advantage of an open economy, deep integration and determination to enter the high-tech era, Vietnam has many great motivations to break through. In that context, prioritizing the development of aviation and tourism will increasingly become an important pillar, contributing to helping Vietnam develop strongly in the era of rising up", Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dinh Thien emphasized.

Developing aviation in association with tourism is one of the key driving forces to promote the local economy and society. A good combination between aviation and tourism not only helps expand travel and destinations but also directly benefits the people, while creating a driving force for sustainable economic development.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, former Director of Vietnam Economic Institute

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tang-suc-nong-thi-truong-hang-khong-ve-lai-thi-truong-hang-khong-du-lich-185251020212738943.htm