Economy

'Sold out' of plane and train tickets for Tet to Nghe An

Quang An DNUM_AHZABZCACF 06:54

This year, people have 9 days off for Tet, the demand to return home has increased, many flights from provinces and cities to Nghe An are "sold out". People who want tickets to return home are forced to travel before the official Tet holiday days.

Air tickets are scarce and expensive.

There is still nearly a month left until Lunar New Year, but finding a plane ticket at this time is not easy. Even if you pay more, there are no more tickets left to buy during peak days.

Hành khách làm thủ tục tại sân bay Vinh. Ảnh
Passengers check in at Vinh airport. Photo: Quang An

Mr. Ngo Quoc Hung, a native of Hanh Quang commune, Dien Chau district, has been living and working in Ho Chi Minh City for more than 20 years. In previous years, due to the impact of the pandemic and busy work, his family did not return home for Tet. This year, the Tet holiday is longer than previous years, he wanted to bring his wife and children home to celebrate Tet, but all flights were fully booked.

Mr. Hung said: According to the schedule, this year, people will have Tet holiday from January 25, 2025 (December 26), so I plan to finish my last working day on January 24 and arrange to board a plane to return home. However, according to the online ticket sales pages of Vietnam Airlines and VietJet Air, there are no direct flights on this day. If you continue to fly, you must arrange your work and ask for leave 2-3 days in advance to get a ticket, otherwise you have to travel by other means, which will take many times longer. This is very inconvenient because the additional days off are equal to the time it takes to travel by train or bus back home.

Vé máy bay chuyến TP HCM - Vinh của hãng VietJet Air đã hết vé từ ngày 23 - 26/1. Ảnh Q.A
Flight tickets for the Ho Chi Minh City - Vinh flight of VietJet Air are sold out from January 23 - 26. Photo QA

Not only Mr. Hung's family, but also many Nghe An people living far from home, especially those living and working in southern provinces such as Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Can Tho... In which, the Ho Chi Minh City - Vinh flight is always the flight with the largest number of passengers operating in Nghe An.

According to a survey on Vietnam Airlines' online ticket sales page, on January 24, the last working day, there were 5 direct flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh airport that were sold out of economy tickets with ticket prices of over 4 million VND. This price is double the normal day even though the flight time is during off-peak hours from 00:55 to 3:35. There are still tickets available for business class, but with a price of about 6 million VND, very few people can access it, especially families with many members.

On January 25, the first day of the Tet holiday, all direct flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh were completely sold out in all classes. If you accept a connecting flight from Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi - Vinh, the time will be doubled and the ticket price will be more than 11 million VND, making it difficult for people to afford this price.

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Vietnam Airlines' Ho Chi Minh City - Vinh flight also sold out of economy class tickets as of January 24, only business class tickets are left, if you take a connecting flight the ticket price will double. Photo: QA

For VietJet Air, from January 23 to 26, all flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh were sold out of economy class tickets (ranging at over 3.5 million VND). If you want to have a ticket for this route, you must travel before January 23 or after January 26, which means you will have to arrange your time and work to return home earlier than the Tet holiday or return on the last two days of the year, January 27 and January 28 (ie 28 and 29 of Tet).

Mr. Nghiem Manh Tuan - Director of Vinh International Airport said: Currently, Vinh airport has an average of 50 flights taking off and landing every day, but during the Lunar New Year, this number often doubles, due to the highest demand of the year. In response to the sudden increase in passengers, the airport has also made plans to ensure flight safety, security and order for people returning home for Tet.

lượng hành khách di chuyển bằng máy bay tăng vọt trong dịp lễ ảnh QA
The number of passengers traveling by plane skyrocketed during Tet. Photo: QA

It is known that the country has 22 civil airports, serving the travel needs of passengers, including 12 international airports and 10 domestic airports. Vinh International Airport is currently operating 5 direct flights to and from Vinh including: Vinh - Hanoi, Vinh - Ho Chi Minh City, Vinh - Da Lat, Vinh - Buon Ma Thuot and Vinh - Can Tho. In addition to these 5 flights, if passengers want to travel to the remaining provinces and cities by air, they will have to take connecting flights.

Active means

Train tickets to Nghe An during the Lunar New Year have also been fully booked. According to the ticket sales website of Vietnam Railways, on January 25, the first day of the Tet holiday, there were 11 trains from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh serving people returning home for Tet, including: SE8, SE12, SE16, SE6, TN4, SE10, TN6, SE4, SE24, SE14, SE2. All 11 trains were fully booked in all compartments, regardless of whether they were soft-seat or air-conditioned sleeper.

tàu 25 1
Eleven trains from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh on the first day of Tet holiday were all fully booked. Photo: QA

If people want to have tickets for this trip, they must book tickets from January 21 (4 days before the holiday). According to a survey, the ticket price on train SE14 from Ho Chi Minh City - Vinh is 2.1 million VND on January 21 for soft air-conditioned seats (normally it costs 1.4 million VND). Other routes such as Vinh - Da Nang, Vinh - Hue, Vinh - Nha Trang, Vinh - Dieu Tri... also recorded an increase in the number of customers booking tickets. Trains are the means of transport chosen by many people, because of safety as well as cheaper ticket prices compared to other means of transport, however, in return, the travel time is longer.

Nhà ga Vinh luôn đông nghẹt khách dịp Tết. Ảnh: Quang An
Vinh station is always crowded during Tet. Photo: Quang An

For passenger transport by road, bus companies have also started selling Tet tickets for people who want to book early. People can buy tickets directly at the store or contact the bus company's phone number and ticket sales page for reference. At Bac Vinh Bus Station - the largest bus station in the province, there are currently about 200 vehicles registered to transport passengers in and out of the province, ready to serve people during the Lunar New Year.

Due to the high and scarce ticket prices during Tet, many people now tend to take the initiative to find their own means of transport to return home during Tet, especially in the context of the North-South expressway section through Nghe An being opened to traffic, the time from provinces and cities to Nghe An is shortened, this helps people save time, costs, and proactively arrange their work.

Nhu cầu thuê xe được nhiều gia đình lựa chọn trong kỳ nghỉ lễ. Ảnh: Q.A
People proactively choose their own means of transport when ticket prices increase during Tet. Photo: QA

At the meeting to deploy solutions to implement the passenger transport service plan for the 2025 Lunar New Year, Nghe An Department of Transport directed transport businesses to regularly inspect, maintain and repair vehicles to ensure safety requirements, improve the quality of transport services and environmental sanitation before participating in traffic; strictly comply with regulations on declaration and posting of registered fares to stabilize prices and stabilize the market. The Department of Transport Inspectorate arranged forces to inspect and handle violations of road transport at bus stations, parking lots, and rest stops; at the same time, coordinate with functional forces (when there is a written request) to inspect and handle violations of transport activities...

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'Sold out' of plane and train tickets for Tet to Nghe An
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