Holiday airfares surge from pre-pandemic levels

Oanh in Ho Chi Minh City has not been able to find affordable tickets to Asian locations like in previous years for flights during December and Vietnam’s Lunar New Year celebration Tet in January next year.

A low-cost ticket from HCMC to Kansai has risen 70% from 2019 to VND9 million ($362), and up to VND15 million among other airlines, she said.

Kim, a tourism employee in District 1, said that ticket prices to Taiwan, the Philippines and Myanmar for December have surged 20-30% from before the pandemic.

Tickets to other Asian destinations like Singapore, Thailand, and South Korea have surged by 30-70% from two years ago.

Vietnamese airlines say they have only been able to resume 50-70% of pre-pandemic flights and, therefore, price hikes are needed to cover costs.

Vietnam Airlines Group, which include Pacific Airlines and Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO), has resumed 60-70% of flights compared to 2019 as demand remains unstable and some countries still impose Covid-19 measures and have not fully reopened.

Geopolitical tensions and visa policies also affect its plan to increase the number of flights, a media representative said.

The same price hike is seen in other countries. Singapore flights to the Philippines have risen by 78% from 2019, to Thailand 47% and to Indonesia 43%, according to booking platform Traveloka.

The average price of a flight to Malaysia has increased 50% from 2019 and to Bangkok 25%, according to booking platform Expedia.

Some airlines forecast prices to continue rising due to fluctuating fuel costs and because airlines need revenue to recovery from Covid-19 impacts.