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With the summer travel season approaching, demand for travel is increasing, and the aviation industry is entering its peak period. Airlines are striving to increase their capacity to meet market demand, especially on high-traffic routes.
However, rising costs are posing a significant challenge for airlines. Fuel prices, spare parts, airport leasing fees, ground services, etc., are all high, impacting the airlines' profitability.
Leasing additional aircraft for operation during peak season is also a significant financial burden for airlines. Aircraft leasing prices are rising due to high global demand, while supply is limited.
Vietnamese airlines are rushing to come up with suitable plans in time for the upcoming peak tourist season.
According to information from the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority, booking rates for domestic flights over the next month are above average, especially on routes connecting tourist destinations in various localities. Booking rates are higher on weekends and days leading up to departure. Booking rates on domestic flights are expected to continue to increase in the coming months, particularly during the peak summer travel season.
Airfare prices are always a topic of great interest to consumers, especially in the context of rising prices for goods and services in general.
According to information from Vietnamese airlines, they are currently applying various ticket prices for the same flight route, with many prices significantly lower than the maximum price allowed for basic economy class.
Tourists are looking forward to the upcoming summer holidays.
The introduction of multiple fare levels gives customers more options to suit their needs and budgets. However, this also makes it more difficult to compare prices between airlines.
To help reduce input costs for the aviation industry, airlines need to increase aircraft utilization efficiency, take advantage of more time slots throughout the day, and shorten aircraft turnaround time.
Regarding ticket pricing policies, airlines need to implement a diverse range of prices, from low to high, so that the majority of customers can access prices that suit their budgets. In the current context, for airlines to survive and thrive, they need to ensure profitability. Without profitability, attracting investment and expanding into new airlines will be difficult.
Domestic tourism products can enhance their competitiveness against international tours if they maintain stable prices during holidays and Tet (Lunar New Year), avoiding the situation of simultaneous "price hikes" across airfare, hotels, and restaurants. If left uncontrolled, these price increases will significantly impact tour prices and inevitably lead to reduced competitiveness.
Aviation experts estimate that airlines' current fleets are about 30% smaller than before, which has significantly impacted airfares due to demand exceeding supply. Furthermore, the competition among airlines is no longer as intense as it once was, with Vietjet and Vietnam Airlines holding the majority of the market share, while other airlines have only modest market shares.
Therefore, the most important issue now is that aviation and tourism need to harmonize their interests and truly cooperate to calculate the overall cost structure, ensuring that both sides benefit. Although the doubling of fuel costs, exchange rates, and aircraft leasing prices has significantly impacted ticket pricing, if tourism and aviation work together to develop a reasonable calculation formula, it can still benefit both parties.
The leaders of the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority also called on localities to pay attention to and create favorable conditions for connecting the aviation and tourism industries, in order to increase new flight routes and help address the issue of input costs for airlines.
