Before the information on forums about many passengers being worried about flight schedule changes, airlines have officially spoken out.
Informing Lao Dong Newspaper, a representative of Vietnam Airlines said that regarding flight delays and cancellations, there have been instructions from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.
A representative of this airline said that from March to now, the global aviation industry has faced many difficulties due to the increase in Jet A1 aircraft fuel prices, at times 3 times higher than the annual plan.
If the fuel price increases by 1 USD, the airline incurs an additional cost of about 300 billion VND/year. If the operating output is maintained as planned, the airline may suffer a large loss in 2026," a representative of Vietnam Airlines informed.
Faced with this pressure, Vietnam Airlines must implement many fuel-saving solutions, optimize operation, cut costs and review operation frequencies.
Routes with high frequency will be calculated to be reduced according to the route. Meanwhile, routes to difficult-to-reach locations by road and rail such as Con Dao and Phu Quoc must still be maintained.
For international routes, Vietnam Airlines said it must calculate an optimal plan but cannot cut it immediately because aviation and tourism are closely related to many other service systems.
Regarding this content, informing Lao Dong Newspaper, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said that it has issued a document on the plan to operate air transport in the context of fluctuating Jet A-1 fuel prices.
The Civil Aviation Authority directs the operating scenario and aviation transport exploitation plan as follows:
From April 2026, to proactively respond to the increase in Jet-A1 fuel prices, Vietnamese airlines must adjust their route networks and supply capacity accordingly to ensure operational maintenance as well as balancing business efficiency.
According to the report, Vietnam Airlines will balance resources and aim to ensure operations on main domestic routes (HAN - DAD - SGN), maintaining operations on routes to serve political - economic - social tasks.
With international routes, Vietnamese airlines also try to maintain maximum operating history and maintain a presence in key markets.
However, currently some Vietnamese airlines have plans or officially adjusted their flight networks by reducing frequency or stopping the operation of some domestic routes with low booking rates or seat occupancy/load factor - often during nighttime, low hours and on routes that do not compensate for operating costs.
Vietnam Airlines has officially stopped the Cat Bi - Buon Ma Thuot, Cat Bi - Cam Ranh, Cat Bi - Phu Quoc, Cat Bi - Can Tho, Ho Chi Minh City - Van Don, Ho Chi Minh City - Rach Gia, Ho Chi Minh City - Dien Bien routes from April 1, 2026.
Depending on the developments of the situation, with fuel prices expected to fluctuate from 160-200 USD/barrel, Vietnam Airlines is expected to cut about more than 700-1,700 flight pairs/month depending on the scenario in the second quarter of 2026 (corresponding to cancellation rates of 10-20%), accordingly international cancellations of 4%-18% and domestic cancellations of 12%-26%.
In which, for international routes, there will be interspersed cuts, trying to maximize preserving historical slots and maintaining presence in operating markets; for domestic routes, the operation of ineffective long-term routes will be stopped; maintain the minimum frequency of presence for routes that cannot compensate for operating costs and cancel low-peak operating days and bad hours.
Vietjet cut 18% of total operating volume on the entire flight network compared to the plan (domestic decreased 22% and international decreased 11%) in April 2026.
Some routes will be adjusted such as: Hanoi - Cam Ranh 25 flights/week (reduction of 24 flights), Hanoi - Buon Ma Thuot 14 flights/week (reduction of 14 flights), Ho Chi Minh City - Cat Bi 35 flights/week (reduction of 25 flights), Ho Chi Minh City - Tho Xuan 21 flights/week (reduction of 28 flights), Da Nang - Singapore 10 flights/week (reduction of 4 flights), Ho Chi Minh City - Bangkok 18 flights/week (reduction of 10 flights)...
Faced with the situation that fuel prices have not shown signs of decreasing and are forecast to tend to maintain high prices for a long time, Vietjet may have to continue to adjust its operating output to suit in the following months.
Sun Phu Quoc Airways expects that with the current situation, airlines may also have to adjust plans to ensure optimal operations as well as business efficiency.
Bamboo Airways is expected to only be able to operate with a frequency of 15-17 flights/day (down more than 50% compared to the current 35-36 flights/day) from April 2026; focusing on operating to/from Quy Nhon (UIH) and on the main route.
Vietravel Airlines operates 28-30 flights/day.
Pacific Airlines plans to reduce frequency in low-peak operating periods/days and bad hours, expected to reduce supply load by 8-30% in the second quarter of 2026, starting from April 2026 and will continue to adjust based on market conditions and fuel price fluctuations.
