“Hunt” for domestic flight tickets early
After the official Tet holiday schedule was announced, many people across the country were busy buying plane tickets, making plans to return home to visit family or travel with friends and relatives.
Mr. Viet Hoang (27 years old, office worker in Ho Chi Minh City) plans to return to his hometown in Hung Yen to visit his family and take advantage of the long holiday to visit some tourist destinations in the North. "As soon as I had a Tet holiday, I searched for a plane ticket to Hanoi. The ticket price is higher than usual but not at a sudden increase, and airlines still have many flight times and days for customers to choose from," said Mr. Hoang.
Since the end of September, a number of Vietnamese airlines have simultaneously opened ticket sales for Tet holiday such as: Vietnam Airlines opened 1.5 million seats, Vietjet Air opened 2.6 million seats... Tourists can easily book tickets on the airline's website and some applications.
According to a survey by Lao Dong, the price of air tickets during Tet (January 14-30) for round-trip flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang, Buon Ma Thuot, Pleiku, Nha Trang, Da Lat... has an average price of about 1.7 million VND; longer flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, Vinh, Thanh Hoa, Hai Phong... are about 3.3 million VND.
On average, domestic flight ticket prices during the Lunar New Year increased by 5-8% compared to the same period last year. The high prices only appeared during good flight times and days, close to the Lunar New Year holiday. However, these are only the first round of Lunar New Year flight ticket prices.
No worries about missing tickets
According to representatives of some travel agencies, airfares for the 2025 Lunar New Year are likely to increase, but are still within acceptable ranges. However, the price increase will have a certain impact on domestic tourism activities.
Mr. Bui Thanh Tu - Marketing Director of BestPrice - said that from early on, the company has been busy preparing products for the 2025 Lunar New Year holiday. In particular, linking with airlines to stock up on Tet flight tickets to serve tourists is indispensable. Mr. Tu commented: “The increase in airfares is creating significant impacts on the price of combo travel services and the choices of tourists. Accordingly, high ticket prices lead to increased combo prices, causing many customers to reconsider their travel decisions. Many people may choose to go to nearby places with moderate costs or even not travel at all.”
To overcome this situation, the company has designed many travel combos that are more suitable to customers' needs.
Sharing the same view, Mr. Pham Van Bay - Deputy Director of Vietravel Hanoi Branch - said that the Lunar New Year is a good opportunity for tourists to reunite with their families or travel for a long time without taking leave. "To prepare for the Tet holiday, we have cooperated with partners such as airlines, hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions to offer the most suitable tour prices to customers. It is expected that in November 2024, we will launch a spring promotion program with many incentives for customers who buy Tet tours and tours departing in the first quarter of 2025" - Mr. Bay informed.
As shown above, Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air alone have provided more than 4 million seats for the Lunar New Year 2024 in the first round of sales. In addition, these two airlines are also expected to continue receiving more and have plans to lease additional aircraft to supplement their existing fleet.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, Vietjet Air is expected to receive 8 A321 aircraft and 2 E190 aircraft in the near future. Bamboo Airways and Vietravel Airlines are also planning to increase the number of aircraft in operation to match capacity and market development needs during Tet. The number of new aircraft will be increased in the final stage of 2024 and ready for the peak of Tet 2025.
Airlines also plan to charter additional aircraft when necessary. Therefore, passengers do not have to worry about a lack of aircraft or difficulty finding tickets for Tet 2025.
