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There are still many empty seats but most airfares during Tet are still expensive, from 5 - 10 million VND for a round-trip economy class ticket, 16 - 19 million VND for business class.
The 2024 Lunar New Year holiday will last 7 days, from February 8 to February 14, 2024 (December 29, year of the Cat to January 5, year of the Dragon).
A survey by reporters on flights shows that, up to this point, there are still many empty seats, but most round-trip tickets are still expensive, ranging from nearly 5-10 million VND for economy class and 16-19 million VND for business class.
On online ticket sales websites, round-trip airfares for Lunar New Year 2024 on some routes are sold at 4.5 - 10 million VND/ticket depending on the airline, flight time and flight date (including taxes and fees).
Specifically, the round-trip ticket price for the departure flight on February 9, 2024 (afternoon of the 30th day of Tet) and the return flight on February 16, 2024 (7th day of Tet) from Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi (including taxes and fees) of VietJet Air is 5,538,000 VND; Vietnam Airlines: 5,987,000 VND; Bamboo Airways: 7,203,000; Vietravel Airlines: 6,130,640 VND.
The Civil Aviation Authority said that airfares have increased due to the high number of passengers traveling during Tet only in one direction.
The round-trip ticket price for the Ho Chi Minh City - Vinh (Nghe An) route of VietJet Air is 5,632,800 VND; Bamboo Airways is 7,154,000 VND and Vietnam Airlines: 9,928,000 VND.
The Ho Chi Minh City - Hai Phong route of VietJet Air is 6,043,200 VND; Vietravel Airlines: 3,832,000 VND; Bamboo Airways: 6,267,000 VND and Vietnam Airlines: 4,010,000 VND.
The flight from Hanoi to Nha Trang on February 11 (the 2nd day of Tet) and the return flight on February 17 (the 8th day of Tet) of VietJet Air costs 5,877,000 VND; Bamboo Airways: 6,688,000 VND and Vietnam Airlines: 7,130,000 VND.
Also departing on February 11 (the 2nd day of Tet), returning on February 17 (the 8th day of Tet), the Hanoi - Da Lat flight of VietJet Air costs 4,613,400 VND; Bamboo Airways: 7,154,000 VND. In particular, Vietnam Airlines has the highest ticket price of up to 9,956,000 VND.
The Hanoi - Phu Quoc flight departing on February 11, 2024 (the 2nd day of Tet) and returning on February 17, 2024 (the 8th day of Tet) of VietJet Air costs VND 5,693,400; Vietnam Airlines: VND 8,318,000; Vietravel Airlines ticket prices up to VND 11,070,440.
Meanwhile, the Hanoi - Da Nang route of VietJet Air is 3,310,800 VND; Vietravel Airlines: 3,223,280 VND; Bamboo Airways: 5,102,000 VND and Vietnam Airlines: 4,975,000 VND.
Sky-high airfares make many workers hesitate when booking tickets to return home for Tet.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong (from Thanh Hoa) and her husband Nguyen Duc Phu (from Nam Dinh) are technical workers in a corrugated iron factory in Song Than 2 Industrial Park (Di An, Binh Duong). They said that since the beginning of the year, they have proactively spent sparingly to save money to bring their grandchild back to their hometown to visit his grandparents after more than 2 years of not seeing them.
However, when surveying the airfare from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, which cost from over 5 million to 10 million VND/person/round trip ticket, their desire to return home seemed to be extinguished.
“If all three of us go together, we will have to spend at least 17 million VND, plus the cost of transportation from Binh Duong to Tan Son Nhat airport, then from Noi Bai airport to Nam Dinh, which will cost up to a million VND. Besides, we cannot return empty-handed when visiting our families, so this year we may have to miss our appointment to return home to be with our families.”,Mr. Phu sighed.
Not only Mr. Phu's family, tens of thousands of workers and laborers from the North and Central regions who come to the South to work are in similar situations when airfares to the Central and Northern provinces increase sharply during peak days.
Explaining why there are still many tickets but prices remain sky-high for a long time, airlines said that in the price structure, fuel often accounts for 25-28% of operating costs.
According to airline statistics, the average fuel price in 2023 compared to 2015 (when the current airfare frame was applied) has increased by 58.6%, from an average price of 67.37 USD/barrel in 2015 to 106.86 USD/barrel in 2023.
“In 2023, jet fuel prices are built at around $112/barrel based on Brent crude oil price forecasts, but fuel price risks are very unpredictable due to many uncertain factors in the world's macroeconomics, energy markets and geopolitics.
"If the price of jet fuel increases or decreases by just 1 USD/barrel, this year's fuel costs could increase/decrease by about 224 billion VND," said a representative of Vietnam Airlines.
In addition to fuel prices, interest rates, exchange rates and many other input factors are all at a higher level and are significantly more disadvantageous for Vietnamese airlines compared to the pre-COVID-19 period.
These unfavorable factors will certainly add to the financial burden on airlines in 2023, while also narrowing the room for adjusting domestic flight ticket prices.
A representative of Vietnam Airlines said that this year, the airline opened ticket sales for Tet quite early, from mid-September with about 3 million tickets for the 2024 Lunar New Year.
"Of the total 3 million Tet flight tickets provided across the entire domestic and international flight network with about 15,000 flights, there are 2 million domestic tickets with about 10,300 flights, 1 million international tickets with about 4,650 flights," said a representative of Vietnam Airlines.
Airlines ensure enough tickets to meet people's travel needs during Tet (Illustration photo)
Similarly, Vietjet also offers more than 2.5 million air tickets for Tet on routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, Vinh, Thanh Hoa, Hai Phong, Da Lat, Phu Yen, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, etc.
Bamboo Airways and Vietravel Airlines also provide about 700,000 to 1 million tickets across the entire flight network.
Mr. Dinh Viet Thang, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, said that this year, airlines opened Tet ticket sales quite early.
“The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has requested airlines to report on market demand, operating plans, and demand for slot usage (take-off and landing times) at airports during the peak period of the Lunar New Year in 2024,” said Mr. Thang.
In addition, the Civil Aviation Authority also requested airlines to report plans to increase capacity on specific routes during the peak Tet period. The units compared and evaluated with the same period of the Lunar New Year 2023 and made recommendations related to increasing capacity on routes during this period.
“People’s travel demand during Tet often increases, concentrated on good flight days and times, leading to a shortage of tickets and higher ticket prices. Air transport during Tet is always unique and only crowded in one direction, with few or even no passengers in the other direction,” Mr. Thang commented.
Mr. Thang said that the ticket prices offered by the airlines are still within the regulated ceiling price range. When people's travel demand increases, the airlines will certainly increase flights to maximize the number of passengers.
However, it is not yet possible to confirm whether such high prices can last throughout the Tet period, on all flights or just at one time. When ticket prices are high and cannot be sold, airlines must adjust their prices themselves.
“The Civil Aviation Authority also closely monitors and requires airlines to provide customer booking data. When the number of passengers reaches 70%, the authority requires airlines to study and propose increasing flights to exploit and serve the travel needs of the people.
When the number of flights increases and the supply increases, the ticket prices will also have to be adjusted according to the market. The Department cannot require airlines to provide a huge supply, and if they cannot do so, it will be a waste,” Mr. Thang affirmed.
According to VTC