On February 26th, domestic flight tickets were still priced high despite the end of the Lunar New Year holiday. At that time, one-way flights from Hanoi, Vinh (Nghe An), Hai Phong to Ho Chi Minh City were priced at a range of 3.5 – 7 million VND. If connecting flights were required, passengers had to pay more than 10 million VND per leg.
Flight ticket prices to Ho Chi Minh City have cooled down during the low season.
Currently, flight ticket prices have started to cool down as domestic flights enter the low season. According to a survey on March 11th, one-way tickets for the Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City route were priced at only 2.5 million VND and still had many available seats.
Vietnam Airlines listed round-trip ticket prices for the above-mentioned route from March 15th to March 17th at only 3.8 million VND. Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airways have ticket prices of 3.9 million VND and 3.6 million VND, respectively.
Similarly, for routes such as Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa, Vinh – Ho Chi Minh City, round-trip tickets for weekend trips in mid-March are priced at 3 million VND. Just 15 days ago, these routes were sold out continuously or only had business class seats available even if passengers wanted to book a week in advance.
For tourism routes, the round-trip ticket prices from Hanoi to Nha Trang, Da Lat, and Phu Quoc have seen a significant decrease. Among them, the round-trip tickets for Hanoi – Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, Da Lat are priced at 3.4 million VND, 3.5 million VND, and 3.6 million VND, respectively.
The decrease in flight ticket prices has stimulated off-season travel demand. Ms. Lien, who lives in Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi, said: “Because of the low flight ticket prices, my husband and I decided to have a trip to Phu Quoc during the last week of March to save our annual leave. Round-trip flight tickets were only 3.5 million VND per person, and I also found a 4-star resort combo for only 3 million VND for 3 nights. I think the cost is very reasonable.”
According to some travel agencies, the sharp decrease in flight ticket prices is due to the domestic market entering the low season. It is expected that besides the holiday period from April 30th to May 1st, flight ticket prices on all domestic routes will remain affordable. However, prices will increase again during the peak summer season from June each year.
Many resorts apply preferential policies to stimulate off-season tourism.
The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam has requested airlines to proactively report their operation plans and have backup plans to supplement any shortages of aircraft.
In reality, the number of airline fleets has been fluctuating significantly recently. Specifically, the engine manufacturer Pratt&Whitney (PW) announced its plan to recall PW1100 engines, which could potentially affect 600-700 aircraft of various airlines worldwide. In Vietnam, these engines are currently being used on some A321NEO aircraft operated by Vietnam Airlines and VietJet Air. This will cause the affected aircraft to stop operating in 2024 and 2025.
In addition, Bamboo Airways has also halted the operation of 3 Embraer E190 aircraft and closed routes using these aircraft, including Hanoi – Hue/Dong Hoi/Con Dao and Ho Chi Minh City – Dong Hoi/Con Dao, for restructuring and cost reduction purposes. In particular, the popular Hanoi – Con Dao route will cease operating from April 1st, 2024.
