Holiday airfares are as expensive as Tet tickets

In about two weeks, people across the country will enter the five-day Hung King Commemoration Day and April 30, May 1 holiday (from April 29 to May 3). This is also the first peak tourist season of the year, so families and organizations often prepare their travel plans early. Some airlines reported that the number of passengers booking seats on some domestic routes reached 70% of the seats. However, agents revealed that the number of passengers booking air tickets is still limited, not as exciting as previous years.

Tickets are as expensive as Tet holiday

A quick survey from online ticket channels shows that from April 28 to May 3, ticket prices on many routes have skyrocketed. Specifically, depending on the airline and flight time, round-trip tickets for the Ho Chi Minh City - Da Nang route (departing on April 28, returning on May 2) cost 3.6-4.2 million VND; round-trip tickets for the Ho Chi Minh City - Khanh Hoa route cost 3.2-4 million VND; round-trip tickets for the Ho Chi Minh City - Phu Quoc route cost 3-4 million VND; and round-trip tickets for the Ho Chi Minh City - Thanh Hoa route cost 4-5.2 million VND.

The Quang Binh tour lasts four days and three nights with a total cost of 10 million VND/person. Of which, the airfare accounts for 50%, the rest is for accommodation, sightseeing tickets, and transportation. The airfare is constantly at a high level, causing the number of customers booking tours to Quang Binh to be quite low, and the tour design also requires the company to calculate a lot.

Mr. NGUYEN TIEN THANH, Quang Binh Tourism Company

In addition, round-trip tickets for Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City routes cost 4.2-6 million VND; Hanoi - Phu Quoc 4-6 million VND, depending on the airline and flight time; Hanoi - Da Nang route costs 4-5.2 million VND. In particular, the Hanoi - Con Dao route is exclusively operated by Bamboo Airways, round-trip tickets cost up to 8.5 million VND. There are five round-trip flights per day on this route. Round-trip tickets from Ho Chi Minh City range from 4-6 million VND.

Ms. Mai Ha, owner of an airline ticket and travel company, said that this year's holiday season, not only have airfares increased, but room rates have also doubled. Therefore, families mainly consult ticket prices, then design their own tours and travel by private vehicles to reduce costs. "Currently, flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Con Dao operated by Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways, although the frequency has increased continuously, are always fully booked, not waiting for holidays and Tet. Some routes have fewer flights, so seats are scarce, while the rest still have a lot of tickets but prices are as high as during Tet," Ms. Ha said.

Mr. Pham Duy, who runs an airline ticket agency in Binh Duong, commented that the number of customers booking tickets has decreased compared to the same period last year. “Maybe because income and ticket prices are too high, families and units are considering booking tickets at this time,” Mr. Duy shared.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the occupancy rate on many flights during this holiday season has increased dramatically. Photo: PHONG DIEN

Request for flight increase

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), data reported by Vietnamese airlines showed that on the two peak days of April 28 and 29, the total number of seats offered to the market on flights from Hanoi to key tourist destinations such as Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hue, Da Lat, Phu Quoc, Tuy Hoa, Quy Nhon, Dong Hoi... was over 41,000 seats. Notably, on April 29, the occupancy rate increased dramatically, including the Hanoi - Hue route reaching 100%; Hanoi - Tuy Hoa reaching 93%; Hanoi - Dong Hoi/Quy Nhon both reaching over 96%.

Similarly, in Ho Chi Minh City, the number of bookings for flights to the above mentioned key tourist destinations on April 29 was high with a total of about 40,000 seats offered. The occupancy rate on flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Quy Nhon/Phu Quoc/Tuy Hoa were all over 80%.

In the opposite direction, flights to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City also had high booking rates on peak days 2 and 3-5. In particular, some routes from Phu Quoc, Quy Nhon, Hue, Tuy Hoa to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City all had rates above 80%.

Therefore, in order to enhance solutions to better serve people's travel needs and ensure traffic order and safety during the April 30 and May 1 holidays, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam requests airlines to consider increasing flights on routes from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to destinations with high tourism demand including Phu Quoc, Tuy Hoa, Binh Dinh, Cam Ranh, Con Dao... on April 28 and 29 and from May 2 to 3.

Previously, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam also expanded 26 slots (takeoff and landing)/day at Tan Son Nhat airport, to serve the air transport demand during the April 30, May 1 holidays and the peak summer season of 2023. Thus, airlines have opened for sale an additional 4,500-5,000 seats/day.

Depending on the situation, the railway industry will run more trains and add more cars.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Luyen, Deputy Director of Saigon Railway Transport Joint Stock Company, said that during the peak period from April 26 to May 3, many train routes from Saigon were fully booked. “Currently, not all train tickets are sold out. If this ticket is no longer available, there are other train tickets for people to choose from. The company also mobilizes railway transport units to run more trains and add more cars depending on the situation,” said Mr. Luyen.

According to Mr. Luyen, the company adjusts ticket prices according to market supply and demand. Accordingly, the entire period will see an average increase of about 4%-7% in ticket prices compared to the same period in 2022.

A representative of Hanoi Railway Transport Joint Stock Company also said that during this holiday, demand increased so the company has brought out all quality carriages to create 28 more train types to serve passenger transport. "Up to now, the train types to the Central provinces during peak days, the train from Hanoi to Lao Cai is almost sold out, only tickets for short routes, regional trains such as Hanoi to Nam Dinh, Hai Phong are left" - said a representative of the company. THY NHUNG

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