Airline tickets are back in "super cheap" season.

Vietnam Airlines (VNA), the national airline of Vietnam, has just announced the sale of promotional tickets on most domestic routes at unprecedented prices, starting from only 39,000 VND (equivalent to 613,000 VND including taxes and fees) for short-haul flights and 99,000 VND (equivalent to 679,000 VND including taxes and fees) for long-haul flights.

Short-haul flights include routes between Ho Chi Minh City and Phu Quoc, Da Lat, Nha Trang, Hue, Tuy Hoa, Quy Nhon, Dong Hoi, Pleiku, Buon Ma Thuot, and Da Nang; and between Hanoi and Hue, Quy Nhon, Dong Hoi, Pleiku, Chu Lai, and Da Nang. Long-haul flights include routes between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, and Hai Phong; and between Hanoi and Nha Trang, Da Lat, Phu Quoc, Tuy Hoa, and Buon Ma Thuot. The promotion applies to flights departing from now until June 16th.

Besides VNA's promotional program, Pacific Airlines recently announced the sale of air tickets starting from only 9,000 VND/segment (equivalent to 580,000 VND including taxes and fees) across its entire domestic network. The program applies to tickets purchased and departing from now until June 30th.

Previously, Vietjet Air also offered customers a 3-day "golden" promotion with hundreds of thousands of tickets starting from 0 VND, available for unlimited purchase at any time on all Vietjet sales channels, with travel dates until December 20th on all domestic routes to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Da Lat, Quy Nhon, Can Tho... that the airline operates.

A survey on the flight ticket booking website Abay revealed truly shocking results, as ticket prices have never been this cheap. For the most popular route, Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi, even with close bookings, Bamboo Airways is currently offering tickets at a range of prices: 6,000 VND/one-way (678,000 VND/one-way including taxes and fees); Pacific Airlines is offering tickets at 8,000 VND/one-way (679,000 VND/one-way including taxes and fees).

As is evident, Covid-19 continues to inflict severe blows on the Vietnamese aviation market. With the international aviation market predicted to struggle for a quick recovery in 2021, airlines are focusing all their efforts on domestic flights, minimizing idle aircraft and pushing average ticket prices down to unprecedented levels.

Huyen Chau