Passengers check in at Phu Bai International Airport

Airfares are rising

A survey of many airline ticket agents in Hue City in recent days shows that ticket prices for the week before or after April 30 and May 1 are sky-high, especially for routes with high travel demand.

An airline ticket agent in Hue City informed that if compared to last year, the demand for tickets increased during this holiday season, this year the airline ticket market has decreased due to high ticket prices. Currently, the number of customers booking has decreased by 30-40% compared to the same period last year. The routes that many people are interested in are Hue - Hanoi ; Hue - Ho Chi Minh City; Hue - Phu Quoc; Hue - Da Lat...

From the beginning of March 2024, Circular No. 34/2023/TT-BGTVT of the Ministry of Transport amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 17/2019 of the Ministry of Transport on promulgating the price framework for passenger transport services on domestic flights officially took effect. Accordingly, for groups of routes from 500km or more, the price of transportation services will increase by 50 - 250 thousand VND/ticket/way compared to the old regulations, depending on the length of each route.

According to the prices offered by ticket agents in Hue City 3-5 days before the holiday, such as: Hue - Ho Chi Minh City route with Vietjet from 1.1 - 1.6 million VND/ticket; Vietnam Airlines from 1.6 - 2.2 million VND/ticket; Hue - Hanoi route with Vietjet from 1 - 1.4 million VND/ticket; Vietnam Airlines from 1.6 - more than 2 million VND/ticket... The above prices fluctuate depending on the flight time. However, the number of customers booking tickets at this time for the upcoming holiday has decreased by about 40% compared to the same period last year.

The owner of an airline ticket agency on Le Loi Street, Hue City, said that currently, airfares are higher than before due to many reasons, such as high demand for travel, reduced supply of means of transport from airlines, high fuel and service costs, etc. Moreover, in early March 2024, due to the new price ceiling regulations applied to domestic flights, plus many aircraft undergoing maintenance, ticket prices are currently high.

Demand for train tickets increases

Because plane tickets are expensive, many people choose other means of transportation such as trains and cars to travel or change their plans to travel to closer locations.

Ms. Tran Thi Tu (Phong Dien town, Phong Dien) shared: “Initially, my family planned to travel to Da Lat during the upcoming holidays. However, when looking at the airfare, I found that it was almost double the usual price, so I decided to change my travel destination to Hoi An (Quang Nam) and Quy Nhon (Binh Dinh) by car during the upcoming holidays of April 30 and May 1.”

Passengers tend to choose trains for travel.

Mr. Hoang Minh Phuong (Hue City) said that during the upcoming holiday, he and his friends decided to travel to Da Lat. Instead of flying, he and his group decided to choose a sleeper bus because the ticket price is much cheaper than airfare, and they also have many new experiences.

Mr. Le Trong Ha, Ticket Office Manager at Hue Railway Station, said that normally during holidays and Tet, train ticket prices often increase by 20-30% compared to normal days. On the occasion of April 30 and May 1 this year, most customers registered for tickets from Hue to travel short distances of about 300-500km; especially many people were eager to experience the "Connecting Central Heritage" tourist train tour between Hue - Da Nang and vice versa, which was just launched by Vietnam Railways Corporation on March 26. The number of tickets booked from Hue to the Central provinces during the holidays is currently 80-90%.

According to the leader of the Railway Transport Branch in Hue, during the upcoming holiday, in addition to the fixed trains, the railway industry will add more trains to serve passengers. In particular, on the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City route, the industry will organize an additional pair of trains SE11/SE12 from March 28 to May 14. In the South, from the beginning of April, Saigon Railway Transport Joint Stock Company will operate more trains from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa), Quy Nhon (Binh Dinh) and vice versa. The railway industry still applies regular discount programs for social policy beneficiaries, such as 10% discount on ticket prices for students; 5 - 15% discount for passengers with customer cards; 5 - 10% discount for union members; 5% discount on ticket prices for passengers traveling on their birthdays, etc.

Mr. Pham Xuan Son, General Director of Hue Bus Station Joint Stock Company, said that the unit has a plan to propose transport businesses to proactively provide means of transport to serve passengers safely and conveniently during the April 30 and May 1 holidays, especially passengers who want to travel, visit and relax in the Central Highlands provinces in groups, delegations and families. Ticket prices will not increase compared to normal days.

Article and photos: SONG MINH