International tourists traveling domestically wait to check in at the airport – Photo: CONG TRUNG
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, from August 30 to September 3, airlines will operate 4,257 flights, an average of 840 flights/day, an increase of 3% compared to the previous holiday week and an increase of 3.5% compared to the same period in 2023. Of which, the average number of domestic flights is 600 flights/day, international flights 241 flights/day, an increase of 5% and a decrease of 2% compared to the previous holiday week.
Domestic flights during peak season
Although the number of flights has increased, according to a survey on airline websites on August 24, airfares for the September 2 holiday have increased, especially for popular routes such as Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi - Da Nang and Hanoi - Phu Quoc, with an increase of 20-30% compared to normal days, even higher during good times, close to the holiday.
For example, for the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City route, Vietnam Airlines' round-trip economy class ticket price ranges from 2.1 to 3.7 million VND, while Vietjet's ticket price is only about 200,000 - 300,000 VND lower. Bamboo Airways and Vietravel Airlines have ticket prices ranging from 2.4 to 3.5 million VND/round-trip ticket. The Hanoi - Phu Quoc route has a higher ticket price, ranging from 3.4 to 6 million VND/round-trip ticket.
Meanwhile, international airfares have not fluctuated much. For example, round-trip airfares from Hanoi to Bangkok range from 3.5 to 5 million VND, equivalent to summer and the April 30 holiday. Flights from Vietnam to South Korea and Japan are also stable, ranging from 7 to 12 million VND/round-trip ticket.
Mr. Minh Son, director of an airline ticket agency in Ho Chi Minh City, said that during the short holiday, international travel demand does not increase dramatically, so international ticket prices are more stable than the domestic market, not to mention that international destinations are not as concentrated during this time as in the summer.
Although air travel is still the top choice for long-distance trips, with airfares rising, many passengers have decided to switch to other means of transportation. “I plan to take my family to Nha Trang for the holidays, but the round-trip airfare per person is 2.9-3 million VND, so I have to choose to take a bus or rent a car to save money,” said Ms. My Chi, an office worker in Ho Chi Minh City.
Self-drive rental is popular
Traveling by car or bus via highways is now more convenient thanks to the strong development of road infrastructure. New highways such as Ho Chi Minh City - Phan Thiet, Hanoi - Hai Phong or Hanoi - Lao Cai help shorten travel time significantly. From Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Thiet now takes only 2-3 hours instead of 5-6 hours as before, making road travel a more economical and flexible option.
Mr. Thanh Binh (Binh Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City) plans to change his family's trip to Phan Thiet to a camping trip in Dong Nai to avoid traffic jams. "We chose to depart in the middle of the holiday to avoid traffic jams and only take 2 hours to get there instead of going to a place with a lot of tourists going at the same time," Mr. Binh said.
Due to the increased demand for road travel, it is recorded that the price of self-driving car rental in Ho Chi Minh City during the September 2 holiday increased by about 20% compared to normal days, with an increase of 200,000 - 500,000 VND/car depending on the model. For example, Honda City increased from 800,000 VND to 1.1 million VND/day, Toyota Vios from 750,000 VND to 1 million VND, Mazda CX-5 from 1.2 - 1.6 million VND.
Luxury cars such as Mercedes C200 and Toyota Camry also increased slightly but still had to be “sold out”, especially high-chassis cars such as Toyota Fortuner and Honda CR-V, which required reservations a month in advance. However, the store owner said that the demand for car rentals this year was lower than last year due to economic difficulties, not to mention VinFast launching an electric car rental service, giving customers more options.
According to a representative of Phuong Trang bus company, although customers are booking online, there are not many tickets left on some routes during peak days. Therefore, the company has added 70 more buses, bringing the total number of buses to nearly 1,600, and will flexibly transfer buses from low-traffic routes to high-traffic routes during peak days.
Railways also attract customers thanks to cheaper fares than airfares, but there are still many empty seats on the route from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang, Quy Nhon, Tuy Hoa... According to records, train SE11 from Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang from August 30 to August 4, the price for a soft seat with air conditioning is 380,000 VND/passenger; a sleeper is 671,000 VND/passenger, half the price of an air ticket.
Bus company increases trips, bus tickets are abundant
Talking to us on the afternoon of August 24, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tien - Deputy Director of Mien Tay Bus Station - said that during this holiday, the station is expected to serve more than 200,000 visitors for entertainment and holidays. From August 30 to September 3, the station will open ticket sales from 5am to 9pm, and businesses will sell tickets 24/7. In addition, tickets are sold online on the website, through the hotline 19007373.
Up to now, the number of tickets booked before the September 2nd holiday is 65,900/204,800 tickets (reaching 32% of the plan). Mien Tay Bus Station still has more than 140,000 tickets for 4 days to serve passengers. Some routes that people choose to travel a lot are: Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho, Ho Chi Minh City - Ben Tre... "The bus station still has a lot of tickets to serve people traveling, on holidays and will increase the number of buses when necessary. Therefore, people should pay attention to buy tickets at reputable addresses, at the correct ticket price listed at each counter", Mr. Tien said.
At the new Eastern bus station, 12/60 transport units have declared to increase ticket prices during the holiday, the increase is not more than 40% for August 30 and August 31 (the two peak days). The number of passengers passing through the station during this holiday is expected to be about 36,300. The number of tickets remaining at the new Eastern bus station is about 1,500 tickets/day. Some units that sell tickets themselves have booked about 7,000 - 8,000 passengers/day. Phuong Trang alone has sold out all tickets for routes to the Central region, Phuong Trang plans to increase the number of vehicles but not many.
This year, the expressway system to the Central and Northern regions has developed rapidly, so many people have switched to traveling by private car on routes to Nha Trang, Phu Yen, etc. However, the station is still ready to maximize service options and increase vehicles to best meet people's needs.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/gia-ve-may-bay-cao-duong-bo-hut-khach-20240824224317552.htm
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