Flight tickets departing at midnight are unsold.

In reality, according to travel agencies, there are very few or no domestic tours departing in the evening, let alone at night. Because, when designing a tour, the tourism side always wants to make sure that customers have the most time to visit, experience, and relax during the journey, which is packed into each day and each night.

Sharing with PV. VietNamNet, Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, Marketing and Communications Director of Vietluxtour, said that there are domestic tours with night flights but very few, because customers who accept bad flight times are divided into 3 types, usually individual customers: regular package tours, optional tours (according to customer's request) and combo air tickets + hotel rooms.

According to Ms. Thu, for group tours, for MICE guests associated with team building activities, seminars, training,... with invited partners and customers, businesses always choose good flight times and high quality services. Meanwhile, tours with late departure times and difficult to ensure service quality, so Vietluxtour does not make package tours for guests flying at night, unless the customer's flight is delayed due to the airline's fault, then they have to accept it.

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Passengers are still reluctant to fly at night because travel time is significantly shortened. Photo: Nam Khanh

Buying night flight tickets when traveling is mainly for individual travelers, group travelers, young people,... to save costs or have more time for vacation.

Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu said that the biggest worry for guests is that if they fly at night, not only will they risk missing their flight, but they may also find that the receptionist has already gone to sleep when they arrive at the hotel. Even in major tourist destinations like Da Nang and Nha Trang, there are almost no entertainment activities at night. Guests arriving at that time just want to sleep, which is very boring.

This is in complete contrast to traveling abroad, with many tours departing at night. Because, departures at different times have very good airfares, diverse flight times, including night flights, but arriving at destinations such as Taiwan (China), China, Korea, Thailand, ... are vibrant and bustling destinations all day and night, so with an eager mentality, when arriving, guests can immediately go out for a night out, even just in time for breakfast and sightseeing.

That is why at the Aviation - Tourism conference "joining hands" to develop sustainable cooperation in the middle of the week, Mr. Le Hong Ha, General Director of Vietnam Airlines, said that in an effort to cool down domestic airfares, the airline has added thousands of flights departing at night and early in the morning in April and May, with ticket prices considered attractive.

However, Mr. Ha admitted that in May, Vietnam Airlines had to cancel 10% of its night flights due to lack of passengers. The reason is that although the ticket price is cheaper, passengers will have to spend an extra night in a hotel or the destinations cannot meet the public transport infrastructure for traveling at night.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietravel Holding, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ky, also affirmed that “there are no customers flying at night”, because tourism is a market for the rich. “Forcing customers to fly at night, if it is so hard, who will go?” - Mr. Ky said.

Is it really saving?

Mr. Nguyen Tien Dat, CEO of AZA Travel, analyzed that the price of night flights has indeed decreased, but the benefits from this reduction in ticket prices need to be compared with the price of hotel rooms. "How much can we save? Is it worth going at midnight and returning at rooster crowing?", he wondered.

This CEO cited that the cheapest hotel room price in Da Nang is about 500,000 VND/room/night, the most expensive is up to more than 3 million VND. Assuming that guests book a room for an average of 1.5 million VND/night, but arrive only to sleep until the next day, the airfare must be at least half cheaper than the room price, or 750,000 VND/trip; and if the discount is only 200,000-300,000 VND, it is not worth much.

Meanwhile, a survey by VietNamNet reporters on the morning of June 14 showed that the midweek ticket price in July for the Hanoi - Da Nang route, if flying out at night (11:30 p.m.) and returning early (1:30-2:00 a.m.) of Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air is 2.4-2.5 million VND/round-trip ticket, which is still quite a lot. On the same flight day, but if choosing a good time (departing at 2:00 p.m., returning at 12:00 p.m.), the ticket price is from 3-3.3 million VND, which is only 600,000-700,000 VND higher than having to stay up late and wake up early to fly.

Not to mention, according to Mr. Dat, travel time is significantly shortened, while the psychology of tourists is to like to go early and return late, no one wants to go late and return early.

Furthermore, for some routes, the reasonable price only applies to flights from September onwards, meaning that airlines only stimulate demand during the low season. The best airfares are still 20% higher than the same period every year, and there are no promotions.

According to regulations, the new airfare ceiling, effective from March 1, 2024, as stipulated by the Ministry of Transport, applies to basic economy class. However, Mr. Dat frankly pointed out that airlines are "circumventing the law" by dividing tickets into many classes so that they can raise prices higher than the prescribed ceiling.

Assuming that vacationers still prioritize flying at more favorable times, unlike going back to their hometowns or visiting relatives, Mr. Pham Vu Bao, Director of ViBooking - a company specializing in booking airline tickets - also pointed out the reasons why customers rarely book night flights.

That is because tourists always prioritize convenience and comfort. In reality, airfares departing at night and early in the morning are not really cheap. The connection between the city center and the airport is not convenient, so tourists arriving at the airport at night may have to pay more for transportation to the city center.

Typically, at Noi Bai, if customers book a service car or take a taxi home during the day, the price will definitely be cheaper than if they book a car in the evening or at night.

There is still room to increase flights.

However, Vietnam Airlines leaders believe that there is still room to increase flights and attract tourists by developing new habits of traveling with night flights. The airline has worked with Vingroup and Sungroup to have tours that combine night flights, with a 50% discount or even the first night free to reduce costs for tourists.

Mr. Hoang Nhan Chinh, Head of the Tourism Advisory Board (TAB) Secretariat, also suggested that hotel businesses should apply flexible check-in and check-out policies; thereby encouraging guests to fly out and return during off-peak hours, taking advantage of the benefits of reduced airfares.

Airfares are less expensive, but travel at midnight and return home when the rooster crows . Instead of choosing to travel in the morning and return in the afternoon to check in at the hotel, many passengers choose to fly in the evening or at night and return early in the morning. The reason is that reasonable airfares are only available during this time frame.