The atmosphere of the Lunar New Year 2025 is getting hotter and hotter, and the airline ticket market is no exception to this "fever". With less than two weeks left until the most important holiday of the year, people's travel needs have increased dramatically. Domestic airlines have been making efforts to increase transportation capacity and add more flights to meet passenger travel needs. However, the ticket booking situation is still extremely vibrant.
According to the airlines' websites on the morning of January 12, on the first day of the holiday (January 25, the 26th of Tet), flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang, Hue, Nha Trang, Thanh Hoa, Pleiku, Vinh recorded a situation of sold out economy class tickets, and even some days business class tickets were sold out.
Although airlines prepared very early, the number of passengers buying tickets was greater than expected.
Previously, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), as of January 10, Vietnamese airlines (CAAV) had added 522 flights, equivalent to nearly 133,000 seats on domestic routes. This focused on routes from Ho Chi Minh City to the Central provinces from January 22 to February 8. Typically, the Ho Chi Minh City - Quy Nhon route increased by 37 flights, the Ho Chi Minh City - Chu Lai route increased by 34 flights, the Ho Chi Minh City - Thanh Hoa route increased by 32 flights, the Ho Chi Minh City - Buon Ma Thuot route increased by 26 flights...
Notably, despite the addition of additional flights, many routes from Ho Chi Minh City to other localities are still quickly filled up in the days leading up to Tet, and in the opposite direction in the period after Tet. In particular, many routes continue to have a 100% booking rate 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 flights such as Ho Chi Minh City - Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi, Hanoi - Da Nang, Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City, the occupancy rate during the period from January 25 to February 2 (ie December 26 to January 5 of the lunar calendar) is increasing rapidly. Particularly for the Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi/Da Nang route, on some days near Tet, the occupancy rate has been above 90%.
Notably, the strong increase in demand has caused some flights from Ho Chi Minh City to other provinces to run out of economy class tickets in the days leading up to Tet.
On the eve of the Lunar New Year 2025, people's demand for air travel has increased dramatically. In order to meet this demand to the maximum, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam is closely coordinating with domestic airlines to deploy many flexible solutions. Specifically, airlines have been increasing the number of flights on routes with high booking rates, especially routes that are more than 90% full. In addition, the operation of night flights has also been promoted to optimize transportation capacity and meet the diverse travel needs of passengers. All of these activities are carried out within the framework of ensuring absolute safety for flights.
The latest data on airfares during the Lunar New Year, released by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, clearly reflects the market rules, where supply and demand directly affect prices.
"During times of high travel demand, especially during holidays and Tet, ticket prices tend to increase. On the contrary, during off-peak periods or on flights with different departure times, prices often drop sharply to attract passengers and create a balance in operations," the leader of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam analyzed.
Tet flight ticket prices tend to escalate
Surveying the ticket prices of airlines, on January 22 (23rd of the 12th lunar month), flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh, Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa and key routes such as 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 25 (first day of Tet holiday), flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang, Hue, Nha Trang, Thanh Hoa, ... recorded all economy class tickets sold out, even some days there were no business class tickets left.
The leader of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said that, following the direction of the Ministry of Transport on the plan to serve people's travel needs, ensuring order and traffic safety during the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival season, the Authority is working with airlines to research and plan to add more flights for routes with high booking rates (over 90%).
