Carriers to add 8,000 flights to meet Tet travel demand

Five domestic carriers including Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Pacific Airlines, Bamboo Airways and Vietravel will operate a total of more than 33,000 flights, or 6.7 million seats, between Jan. 6 and Feb. 5.

Lunar New Year falls on Jan. 22 and the labor ministry is seeking approval from the government for a seven-day break.

In Vietnam, Tet often sees millions of migrant workers from major cities return to their homes or holiday-goers flock to tourist hotspots.

On average, there will be 1,000 daily flights during the upcoming Tet, up 260 against normal.

The increasing demand will primarily be seen on major routes connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Hanoi and central Vietnam’s Da Nang, Quy Nhon, Hue and Chu Lai.

The route between the two largest cities is expected to have 1,901 flights during the Tet holiday, up 22% against normal.

Air ticket prices for the upcoming Tet has doubled year-on-year as tourism demand resumed after a Covid-19 induced hiatus.

A return trip from HCMC to Hanoi from Jan. 19 to 26 costs at least VND5.5 million ($222.51), double that of last year and the same as 2019.

In 2019, the year before the onset of the pandemic, Vietnam’s aviation industry experienced double-digit growth to 116 million passengers.

This year CAAV expects to serve 100 million air passengers.