There are more than two months until Tet but the airline ticket market is quite quiet, many busy flights every year still have tickets available.
At this time of year, many flights are sold out early. But this year’s survey shows that there is an abundance of tickets, with only a few flights on the peak days of the 4th and 5th of the first lunar month recording temporary sellouts.
The family of Ms. Hoang Anh, communications director of a consumer goods company in Ho Chi Minh City, usually books flight tickets in early September to return home early to prepare for Tet. However, this year, due to financial pressure, the whole family is still considering.
In a similar situation, Mr. Thanh, a delivery man in Ho Chi Minh City, said that instead of flying like every year, he switched to a bus to save half the cost.
Up to now, the “golden” routes such as Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi, Da Nang, Vinh still have tickets with round-trip prices ranging from 5.7 to 7.4 million VND (including taxes and fees). Routes to the Central region such as Ho Chi Minh City – Chu Lai, Hue, Dong Hoi only sold out on the 4th and 5th days of Tet (February 1 and 2).
On flights to popular tourist destinations such as Nha Trang, Phu Quoc or Con Dao, where tickets are usually sold out early in the year, this year there are still many options with flexible schedules. Round-trip tickets cost only 2.6 to 3.6 million VND – not much different from normal days and even lower than the same period last year.
According to Ms. Pham Thi Huong, the owner of an agency in Tan Binh District (HCMC), this is a particularly difficult year for the airline ticket industry. “Last year, I had to pay half a billion VND in advance to hold tickets for sale, but this year the number of customers has decreased sharply. I only issue tickets when customers book,” Ms. Huong said. Over the past month, the number of customers booking Tet tickets at Ms. Huong’s agency has decreased by about 30% compared to the same period last year.
Not only the agents, but also the airlines themselves have clearly felt the decline in purchasing power. All airlines said that ticket sales are slower than in previous years. A representative of Vietnam Airlines said that the airline will continue to increase flights and add tickets to niche routes to ensure supply to the market. To meet the demand during the peak Tet holiday, Vietnam Airlines plans to rent 4 more planes, adding nearly 130,000 seats.
Particularly for tourist routes such as Con Dao and Phu Quoc, all airlines have recorded lower demand, partly due to recent natural disasters and economic impacts, which have reduced the number of tourists from the North going to the festival at the beginning of the year.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, domestic airlines will offer more than 5 million tickets during this time, of which Vietnam Airlines will sell more than 2.5 million tickets, Vietjet Air will sell 2.6 million tickets early and Bamboo Airways has also started a similar plan. However, ticket prices this year are higher than the same period last year due to escalating input costs and limited aircraft supply.
The agency will continue to closely monitor ticket bookings and price developments to direct airlines to add capacity when necessary, ensuring good service for travel needs during the 2025 Lunar New Year. However, with the current low purchasing power, the picture of the Tet air ticket market this year is clearly reflecting economic challenges and changes in people’s consumer behavior.
Source: vnexpress (Thi Ha)
Related
Source: Vietnam Insider