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The atmosphere surrounding the 2025 Lunar New Year is heating up, and the airline ticket market is not immune to this "frenzy." With less than two weeks until the most important holiday of the year, demand for travel has surged. Domestic airlines have been working hard to increase their capacity and add more flights to meet passenger demand. However, ticket bookings remain extremely active.
According to airline websites on the morning of January 12th, on the first day of the holiday (January 25th, or the 26th day of the Lunar New Year), flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang, Hue, Nha Trang, Thanh Hoa, Pleiku, and Vinh recorded a shortage of economy class tickets, and even business class tickets were sold out on some days.
Despite early preparations by the airlines, the number of passengers buying tickets exceeded expectations.
Previously, according to the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority (CAAV), as of January 10th, Vietnamese airlines had added 522 flights, equivalent to nearly 133,000 seats, on domestic routes. This was mainly concentrated on routes from Ho Chi Minh City to central provinces from January 22nd to February 8th. For example, the Ho Chi Minh City - Quy Nhon route saw an increase of 37 flights, the Ho Chi Minh City - Chu Lai route an increase of 34 flights, the Ho Chi Minh City - Thanh Hoa route an increase of 32 flights, and the Ho Chi Minh City - Buon Ma Thuot route an increase of 26 flights…
Notably, despite the addition of extra flights, many routes from Ho Chi Minh City to other localities are quickly filling up in the days leading up to Tet, and the reverse route in the post-Tet period. Many routes have continued to have 100% booking rates, such as Hanoi - Buon Ma Thuot (100%); Ho Chi Minh City - Hue/Pleiku/Tuy Hoa/Quy Nhon/Buon Ma Thuot/Quang Binh/Thanh Hoa/Vinh/Chu Lai/Quy Nhon/Nha Trang/Hue (100%).
For routes such as Ho Chi Minh City - Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi, Hanoi - Da Nang, and Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City, the occupancy rate during the period from January 25th to February 2nd (i.e., the 26th day of the 12th lunar month to the 5th day of the 1st lunar month) is increasing rapidly. Specifically, on the Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi/Da Nang route, some days leading up to Tet have seen occupancy rates exceeding 90%.
Notably, the surge in demand has resulted in some economy class tickets for flights from Ho Chi Minh City to other provinces and cities being sold out in the days leading up to Tet.
Ahead of the Lunar New Year (Tet) in 2025, the demand for air travel has surged dramatically. To meet this demand, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam is working closely with domestic airlines to implement various flexible solutions. Specifically, airlines have been increasing flights on routes with high booking rates, especially those with over 90% occupancy. In addition, night flights are being promoted to optimize transport capacity and meet the diverse travel needs of passengers. All these activities are carried out within the framework of ensuring absolute flight safety.
The latest data on airfares during the Lunar New Year holiday, released by the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority, clearly reflects market dynamics, where supply and demand directly influence prices.
"During periods of high travel demand, especially holidays, ticket prices tend to escalate. Conversely, during off-peak periods or on flights with unbalanced routes, prices usually drop sharply to attract passengers and create balance in operations," a leader of the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority analyzed.
Airfare prices during the Lunar New Year holiday tend to increase.
According to a survey of airline ticket prices on January 22nd (the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month), flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh, Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa, and even key routes like Ho Chi Minh City-Hanoi are being listed by airlines at around 2.9 million VND for basic economy class (excluding taxes and fees). On January 25th (the first day of the Tet holiday), flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang, Hue, Nha Trang, Thanh Hoa, etc., recorded sold-out economy class tickets, and even business class tickets were unavailable on some days.
According to the leaders of the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority, following the Ministry of Transport's directive on the plan to serve the travel needs of the people and ensure traffic order and safety during the Lunar New Year and Spring festival season, the Authority is working with airlines to study and plan to add more flights on routes with high booking rates (over 90%).
