HCMC – The huge demand for air travel around the Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet, has led to a near sell-out of air tickets on various domestic routes, with seat occupancy ranging from 90% to 100%.
Airlines have added flights, but tickets to major central and northern cities Hanoi, Haiphong, Nghe An and Thanh Hoa are almost sold out for flights from now to February 25, or two weeks after Tet, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).
This year’s week-long Tet holiday begins on February 10.
Flights from HCMC to central and northern provinces, including Thua Thien-Hue, Danang, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Hanoi, Haiphong, and Quang Ninh, have been 90% to 100% booked, especially in the days leading up to Tet.
On the other hand, flights from these provinces to HCMC have seat occupancies at 91% or higher from February 13 to 19.
Since mid-January, domestic airlines have added 472 flights with around 92,100 seats on high-demand routes from Hanoi and HCMC to domestic airports and vice versa.
Air ticket prices have surged during the peak Tet days, ranging from VND6.3 million to VND12 million per round ticket.
