Tourist companies have started selling holiday tours on April 30 – May 1, 2024 to avoid the ticket scarcity during the peak season as in previous years. Besides, it is also to avoid the increase in ticket prices after the ceiling prices increased from March 1.
Tourist companies have started selling holiday tours early due to ticket scarcity and high prices during peak season as in previous years. (Illustrative image)
According to the Director of Hanoitourist, the tour prices in the near future will increase by 5-7% due to the increase in airfare. This will have a strong impact on people’s travel demand. Therefore, in order to attract customers, tourism businesses have to find adaptive solutions.
“Domestic customers usually travel during the 10am – 1pm and 3pm – 6pm time slots. Therefore, flights during these time slots are always overloaded, resulting in expensive airfares. In order to lower tour prices, we have to choose more suitable flight times to get cheaper tickets. Only then can we sell tours and attract customers,” said Mr. Thai.
Similarly, Mr. Tran The Dung – CEO of Vietluxtour, also stated that his company has started selling holiday tours on April 30 – May 1 very early, and is currently receiving a lot of inquiries about prices. Mr. Dung informed that the company has prepared a series of tickets since the end of 2023, so the airfare at the moment is still reasonable and does not affect the tour prices.
Mr. Tran The Dung – CEO of Vietluxtour also stated that for individual customers who plan to travel closely to the departure date, that time will be the peak period with the highest airfare.
“No matter how much the ceiling price increases, if passengers do not concentrate on one time slot, one departure time, then airlines can sell tickets at lower prices than the ceiling price. On the contrary, if everyone gathers at one flight time, one departure time, then airlines will sell at the highest price due to the shortage of supply. This year, the most popular destinations are still Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, Da Lat, and Da Nang. Therefore, the airfare to these destinations has increased significantly,” Mr. Dung said.
Airfare for April 30th holiday increases
According to surveys, the airfare for the Hanoi – Phu Quoc route in March is about 3.5 – 4.7 million VND/round-trip ticket (for weekdays and weekends). However, during the April 30 – May 1 holiday, the fare has doubled, reaching more than 7 million VND/round-trip ticket for Vietjet and nearly 9 million VND/round-trip ticket for Vietnam Airlines.
The airfare for the Hanoi – Da Nang route in March is about 3.5 million VND/round-trip ticket, but during the April 30 – May 1 holiday, it has increased to nearly 5 million VND/round-trip ticket if booked at the current time (before the holiday in about 2 months); The airfare for the Hanoi – Da Lat route in March is about 4.9 million VND/round-trip ticket, but during the April 30 – May 1 holiday, it has increased to the highest price of 7.6 million VND/round-trip ticket.
The direct cause affecting the contracting fleets and narrowed supply on domestic and international routes in 2024, 2025 was that Vietnam Airlines (about 20 aircraft), Vietjet (24 aircraft) A321NEO model had to comply with the engine check requirements of the manufacturer Pratt&Whitney.
In addition, Bamboo Airways also ceased to operate the Hanoi – Hue / Dong Hoi / Con Dao and Ho Chi Minh City – Dong Hoi / Con Dao routes. Therefore, scarce air tickets during the April 30 – May 1 holiday may completely occur.
According to travel companies, the mass reduction of flight routes by airlines, especially to famous tourist destinations such as Phu Quoc, Con Dao… is causing great difficulties for domestic travel business.
Ms. Luong Le Thu, a travel agency staff in Hanoi, said that currently, the airfare for many routes has increased by 500,000 – 1 million VND. Destinations that do not have direct flights like Con Dao or destinations where only one airline operates, most ticket prices have increased.
“The current airfare has not gone too high yet, but when approaching the holiday time, the prices are expected to soar. In fact, customers ask very early, but often make reservations very late. Usually, customers only make reservations 1 to 2 weeks before the holiday time and are shocked by the large price difference between the reference and the booking price,”, Ms. Thu said.
