Airlines continuously increase flights, but Tet airfares are still "sizzling hot"

Ticket prices are still "steaming hot"

Vietnam Airlines has added four more Airbus A320s on lease, adding nearly 1,000 flights during the Tet holiday. The additional aircraft can accommodate 180 passengers and are served by Vietnam Airlines flight attendants and foreign flight attendants according to the airline's service standards, excluding the entertainment system.

Thus, up to now, Vietnam Airlines Group (including Vietnam Airlines, Pacific Airlines and VASCO) is expected to provide a total of 2.86 million seats during the Tet peak season on all domestic and international flight networks.

Vietjet has also just announced an increase of nearly 750 flights, equivalent to 154,800 seats, to serve the peak Tet holiday. The additional flights mainly serve the needs of returning home for Tet and traveling, such as from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, Hai Phong, Chu Lai, Tuy Hoa, Da Nang, Hue, Quy Nhon.

Mr. Dinh Viet Thang, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, said that last week, airlines continued to add 324 flights from Ho Chi Minh City to local airports and vice versa on routes with high booking rates, equivalent to nearly 61,000 seats per flight.

However, the situation of ticket sales and reservations for the 2024 Lunar New Year (from February 1, 2024 to February 19, 2024) is still "steaming hot".

Specifically, on the morning of January 28, it was shown that the airfares for the increased flights were not cheap. It is worth mentioning that the night flights were not cheaper than the day flights.

Accordingly, a round-trip ticket of Vietravel Airlines for the Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi route departing on February 6 and returning on February 17 (the 27th and 8th of Tet) costs from over 6.5 to over 7.1 million VND depending on the flight; Vietjet Air tickets for all flights are nearly 7 million VND/round-trip.

Bamboo Airways has just added more than 10 flights, round-trip flights cost more than 7.5 million VND. Vietnam Airlines has only a few flights with economy class tickets costing more than 7.3 million VND/round-trip. Most of the airline's flights from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City on February 17 only have business class tickets costing nearly 10 million VND/round-trip.

Survey of round-trip airfare for the route from Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi departing on February 8 - returning on February 14 (29th and 5th of Tet) of Vietnam Airlines from 8.5 - 9 million VND/ticket; Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airways 6 - 7 million VND/ticket; Vietravel Airlines is 5.5 million VND/ticket.

Ho Chi Minh City - Hai Phong route, nearly 7 million VND/round trip ticket, except for the route from Ho Chi Minh City to Van Don (Quang Ninh), there are no flights, only a few seats left on Vietnam Airlines on February 6 - 10, 2024 with prices from 6.7 - 8.2 million VND/ticket.

What is the booking rate?

Specifically, flights from Ho Chi Minh City have a very high booking rate, spread evenly from February 2 to February 9, 2024 and gradually decreasing from the days after Lunar New Year 2024.

Routes such as Ho Chi Minh City-Buon Ma Thuot; Ho Chi Minh City-Quy Nhon; Ho Chi Minh City-Chu Lai have ticket booking rates ranging from 82 - 100%; Ho Chi Minh City-Da Nang; Ho Chi Minh City-Hai Phong; Ho Chi Minh City-Vinh have ticket booking rates from 79 to 95%; Ho Chi Minh City; Ho Chi Minh City-Pleiku have ticket booking rates from 84 to 98%...

Return flights from local airports to Ho Chi Minh City have high booking rates, with some routes sold out during peak days after Lunar New Year (from February 11, 2024 to February 19, 2024, i.e. January 4 to January 10 of the Lunar calendar).

Specifically, the flight routes Buon Ma Thuot-HCMC; Ca Mau-HCMC have a booking rate of 77-100%; Hai Phong-HCMC; Hue-HCMC; Vinh-HCMC from 83 to 96%; Pleiku-HCMC from 94 to 100%; Tuy Hoa-HCMC; Thanh Hoa-HCMC; Chu Lai-HCMC from 83 to 99%; Quy Nhon-HCMC; Dong Hoi-HCMC from 86 to 105%...

The Ho Chi Minh City-Hanoi route is currently the route with the lowest booking rate from February 1, 2024 to February 9, 2024 (ie December 22-30 of the Lunar calendar) at an average level, from 56% -82%, of which February 3, February 4 and February 7 are over 80%.

In the opposite direction, the booking rate during this period is only from 40% to over 60%. During the period from February 13, 2024 to February 18, 2024 (ie January 4-9 of the Lunar calendar), the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City route has a high booking rate. Except for February 13, this rate only reached over 51%, the remaining days are all over 80%, of which the rates on February 17 and 18 are 93-94%.

Tourism businesses worry about loss of revenue

According to experts, domestic airfares during the Tet holiday increased by 10-30% compared to normal days and compared to last year's Tet holiday, with some flights even costing more than international flights.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Hong (Hanoi) said that this Tet, her family has planned to travel to Phu Quoc for 4 days and 3 nights, but after surveying, the trip costs nearly 9 million VND/person. If the whole family of 4 goes, the cost will be more than 36 million VND, not including additional expenses.

According to Ms. Hong, tourists traveling to Thailand by plane departing from Vietnam to Bangkok and visiting places such as: Safari World zoo, boating on the Chao Phraya river, visiting the Emerald Buddha Temple, the largest temple in Bangkok, sleeping in a 3-star hotel... also only cost more than 9 million VND/person, the same as a domestic tour.

“Domestic tours are very expensive because of the impact of domestic airfares, so my family decided to cancel our domestic travel plans during Tet. Instead, my family chose to go on a package tour to Thailand at a cost equivalent to traveling to Phu Quoc,”Ms. Hong said.

Domestic airfares during the peak days of the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin increased sharply, especially flights from the South to the North, causing many tourism businesses to worry that domestic tour products will have difficulty competing with international products with short flights.

Mr. Tran The Dung, General Director of Vietluxtour Travel Joint Stock Company, gave an example of a 4-day, 5-night tour from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi costing 10 million VND, in which the airfare alone accounts for more than 50%. Meanwhile, the price of a tour from Ho Chi Minh City to Thailand in the same period costs only 7 - 9 million VND.

“Domestic ticket prices are too high, forcing travel companies to increase domestic tour prices by 10-20%. If customers do not go, in order to have tours, businesses are forced to direct customers to foreign travel with cheaper prices and good quality, so the domestic tourism market will decrease sharply, making it difficult for Vietnamese tourism to attract customers.”Mr. Dung said.

According to analysts, in all services, the impact of airfare has a huge impact, just a small adjustment can make the decision of tourists change immediately. In the constant thinking of many Vietnamese, traveling abroad is more luxurious than traveling domestically. This is a huge pressure for travel businesses.

Therefore, airlines and the aviation industry need to study reducing ticket prices, especially not increasing tickets during peak seasons, so that Vietnamese tourists prioritize choosing domestic tours.