Ho Chi Minh City voters request to evaluate the reasonableness of airfares, what does the ministry say?

Increasing the number of night flights is one of the solutions to reduce pressure on airfares - Photo: VNA

Previously in June 2024, the Ministry of Transport received a petition from voters in Ho Chi Minh City stating that domestic airfares are currently high.

Therefore, voters suggest that the ministry review fees and charges, analyze and evaluate the reasonableness of prices and costs of organizing the apparatus of airlines and ground service organizations to compare with current airfares to see if they are appropriate.

The Ministry of Transport said that according to current regulations, airfares are made up of: passenger transport service prices; value added tax; fees collected on behalf of businesses providing passenger terminal services and security services (including passenger service prices and passenger and baggage security prices); service prices for additional services (decided by the airline).

Regarding cost structure, based on data from Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet (the two airlines with the largest domestic transport market share), the Civil Aviation Authority assessed the cost structure in the total cost of a flight in 2023 of the airlines as follows:

Aviation fuel costs account for 37% to 42%; costs related to aircraft equipment, repair and maintenance account for 32% to 41%; flight service costs (ground services, flight operations, etc.) account for 6-7%; remaining costs include costs related to direct labor, sales costs, management costs, passenger services, etc., account for 16% to 19%.

Costs related to flight services (ground services, flight operations, etc.) account for a small proportion, about 6-7% of the cost of a flight, and have almost no impact on increasing costs.

In which, prices of some specialized aviation services at the airport in the list priced by the Ministry of Transport have remained stable since 2020, without any price increase.

According to the Ministry of Transport, from the beginning of 2024 until now, the average economy class ticket price on a number of routes (prices including taxes and fees) of Vietnamese airlines have increased compared to the same period in 2023.

The increase in airfares is part of a global trend due to the impact of major factors such as market supply and demand (decline in the size of the operating aircraft fleet, increased travel demand during holidays and Tet, etc.) and increased fuel prices and exchange rates.

However, through inspection of ticket sales activities, the Ministry of Transport recorded that Vietnamese airlines complied with regulations on maximum prices for basic economy class on domestic flights.

Many solutions to reduce pressure on airfares

To help reduce pressure on airfares, the Ministry of Transport continues to synchronously and effectively implement key solutions such as: adjusting aircraft operating hours, reducing aircraft turnaround times for connecting flights, optimizing aircraft operating hours during the day, increasing night flights, etc. The implemented solutions have partially compensated for the shortage of supply capacity due to the decline in the aircraft fleet.

In addition, the Ministry of Transport continues to effectively implement and monitor the implementation of price declaration, price posting, and price information disclosure measures in accordance with the law. At the same time, the Ministry also recommends that passengers plan to book tickets early to have more options with suitable ticket prices.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cu-tri-tp-hcm-de-nghi-danh-gia-tinh-hop-ly-cua-gia-ve-may-bay-bo-noi-gi-20240822111728514.htm