Passengers board a Vietnam Airlines plane at Tan Son Nhat – Photo: CONG TRUNG
Since mid-September 2024, Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet have opened sales of more than 4 million tickets for the 2025 Lunar New Year. The flight period for the Lunar New Year is from January 13 to February 12, 2025 (from December 14, the year of the Dragon to January 15, the year of the Snake). However, surveys from many passengers show that the prices of economy class tickets on popular routes such as Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City – Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City – Thanh Hoa are all higher than last year.
Mr. Nguyen Phuc Bao (HCMC), who had been waiting to buy an early ticket to Thanh Hoa, said that when he heard that the airline was selling Tet tickets, he just wanted to book early to get a cheaper price and a convenient flight time. However, the ticket price was still nearly 3.4 million VND one way, including taxes and fees. “Last year I flew on the same route for about 3.2 million VND. Buying early allows me to choose a flight time that suits my needs, but the ticket price is not cheap,” said Mr. Bao.
According to the survey, early Tet flight tickets of airlines on flights are currently at a fairly high level. For example, on the flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi on January 25, 2025 (ie December 26), Vietnam Airlines is selling tickets at VND3.7 million/ticket/leg for economy class and VND9.8 million for business class (including taxes and fees).
Similarly, on the same flight, Vietjet has 3.3 million VND for Eco class and 3.8 million VND/ticket/leg for Skyboss class. In addition, some other routes from Ho Chi Minh City connecting localities such as Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Binh… during the upcoming Tet holiday also have quite high prices.
According to a representative of Vietnam Airlines, one of the main reasons for the high ticket prices for Tet 2025 is due to the shortage of aircraft. The recall of engines from the manufacturer Pratt & Whitney on the Airbus A321NEO series has reduced the supply capacity of many airlines.
In fact, airlines are having trouble increasing flights due to a shortage of aircraft. Many have had to lease new aircraft or accelerate the delivery of aircraft, leading to higher operating costs. Inflation and rising fuel costs are also contributing factors to higher ticket prices. Moreover, the fleet size of some airlines has been significantly reduced.
Airlines have reduced their fleets due to financial pressure after the pandemic, which has limited ticket supply, especially on routes to central provinces such as Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, and Quang Binh – routes that are always in high demand during Tet.
There will be more load increases.
Speaking to Tuoi Tre, a representative of an airline said that Tet ticket prices are on sale early so that customers can choose to buy at reasonable prices, suitable to their needs. The possibility of ticket prices decreasing is very difficult because of the peak season, not to mention that airlines fly before and after Tet, so ticket prices will balance costs.
“This Tet flight schedule for sale is based on a plan approved by the authorities. This is only the first sale, the airline will continue to increase capacity based on customer demand assessment,” he said.