Airfare prices for the April 30 – May 1 holiday are expected to increase

On the occasion of April 30 - May 1 this year, people across the country will have 5 consecutive days off from Wednesday, April 30 to Sunday, May 4. Therefore, the demand for travel and returning to their hometowns has increased and flying is always the first choice of many families. However, the current price of air tickets has both increased and become scarce, causing many people to consider.

Mr. Bui Trung Thong in Truong Thi Ward, Vinh City, said: "During the upcoming April 30 - May 1 holiday, I plan to take my family to Da Lat for a vacation, however, after searching for tickets on the airline's online ticket sales sites, the ticket prices have increased during this time. Specifically, there is only one direct flight from Vinh to Da Lat on April 30, which is VJ799 of VietJet Air, the cheapest one-way ticket price is 2.7 million VND/person, while on April 28, the ticket price for this flight is only about 1.4 million VND, which has doubled.

"My family of 5 people, the airfare alone is nearly 15 million VND, not to mention other expenses and the return flight ticket. If we leave 2 days earlier, it will be cheaper, but it is a working day, we cannot take a day off. Therefore, we are considering other means of transportation to save costs..." Mr. Thong shared.

Because he has not returned home for Tet, Mr. Phan Van Kien, a resident of Minh Tien Commune, Thanh Chuong District, now living in Ho Chi Minh City, plans to bring his family back to his hometown to visit relatives during the April 30 - May 1 holiday this year. Knowing that airfares are often difficult to "hunt", Mr. Kien proactively searched for tickets early, although the ticket prices for the Ho Chi Minh City - Vinh route have also increased significantly, making him hesitant.

“On normal days, if you fly from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh, the economy class ticket price only ranges from 1.4 to 1.7 million VND, depending on the airline. However, on the occasion of April 30 to May 1 this year, the lowest reference ticket price has also increased from 2.3 to 2.5 million VND,” said Mr. Kien.

According to a survey on the online ticket sales pages of Vietnam Airlines, VietJet Air... other flights with high numbers of bookings during the April 30 - May 1 holiday include: Vinh - Ho Chi Minh City, Vinh - Nha Trang, Vinh - Da Lat, Vinh - Can Tho, Vinh - Phu Quoc... ticket prices for these routes are all double compared to normal days, even some routes have sold out of economy class tickets, only business class tickets are available with sky-high prices, difficult to reach the average income of the people. Therefore, to adapt, many families have considered switching to other means of transport such as buses, trains... to save more costs.

A representative of Vinh International Airport said: Currently, there are 3 airlines operating flights at Vinh airport including Vietnam Airlines, VietJet Air and Bamboo Airways with 17 flights per day.

Of these, 10 are VietJet Air flights, 6 are Vietnam Airlines flights and 1 is Bamboo Airways flight. During holidays, depending on the number of passengers booking tickets, airlines will have additional flights to serve people's travel needs.

It is known that at Vinh International Airport, there are currently 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 go to the remaining provinces and cities by air, they will have to take connecting flights or find other means of transport.

It is expected that the upcoming April 30 – May 1 holiday will be the time when Vinh airport will welcome a large number of visitors before closing for a period of time to upgrade items. There is currently no official closing date at Vinh airport.