Airfares increase during National Day holiday September 2
This year’s National Day holiday on September 2nd lasts for 4 days. Therefore, many people have focused on booking plane and train tickets early to plan their travel and return to their hometown during this holiday.
According to the announcement of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, cadres, civil servants, public employees and workers will have the National Day holiday in 2024 from Saturday, August 31 to Tuesday, September 3. This is the third longest holiday of the year, after Tet holiday and the recent April 30 - May 1 holiday.
Although it is not yet the holiday, Nghe An people are already busy buying plane and train tickets early to prepare for their trips.
According to a survey on the official online ticket sales pages of major airlines in Vietnam, airfares for the National Day holiday on September 2 this year have fluctuated a lot.
For Vietnam Airlines, there are currently 2 direct flights in Nghe An: Vinh - Ho Chi Minh City and Vinh - Hanoi. For the Vinh - Ho Chi Minh City flight on the first day of the holiday (August 31), there are 4 direct flights, the earliest flight is VN1263 departing from Vinh at 9:40 am and arriving in Ho Chi Minh City at 11:35 am. All economy class tickets are sold out, only business class tickets are available with a fee of 4.2 million VND/way.
The remaining 3 direct flights still have economy tickets, however, only the latest flight, VN1269, departing from Vinh at 9:55 p.m. and arriving in Ho Chi Minh City at 11:45 p.m., has the cheapest ticket price of 1.6 million VND/way. The remaining 2 flights both cost over 2 million VND/way, higher than normal days. Notably, on the last day of the holiday (September 3), Vietnam Airlines airfares from Vinh to Ho Chi Minh City increased dramatically, all 4 flights had no more economy tickets, only standard economy tickets and above with prices ranging from 2.5 - 3.7 million VND/way, 1.5 times higher than normal days.
Not only the Vinh - Ho Chi Minh City route but also other routes are about to increase ticket prices during the holiday season. For Vietjet Air, this unit is operating the most direct flights in Nghe An including: Vinh - Ho Chi Minh City, Vinh - Buon Ma Thuot, Vinh - Da Lat, Vinh - Can Tho. In which, the Vinh - Da Lat route is chosen by many people during the holidays.
On the first day of the holiday (August 31), Vietjet Air had a Vinh - Da Lat flight number VJ713, the lowest ticket price was 2.5 million VND/way, while before the holiday, the ticket price had increased by half, specifically, the Vinh - Da Lat flight on August 30 was the lowest at 2 million VND/way, before August 29 the lowest was 1.3 million VND/way. The airline's other flights also had increased ticket prices such as Vinh - Buon Ma Thuot, Vinh - Ho Chi Minh City.
Not only air routes, people are also busy booking train and bus tickets to prepare for the holiday. Information from Vinh Railway Station said that currently, families and tour companies have contacted to book tickets for the holiday. The most booked routes are short and medium distances such as Vinh - Nha Trang, Vinh - Da Nang, Vinh - Hanoi, Vinh - Hue... For the Vinh - Saigon route, the number of passengers has not increased significantly because traveling on this route has already taken more than a day, making it difficult to arrange enough time for a vacation.
Mr. Cao Ngoc Tuan - Head of Vinh Railway Transport Station said: After the April 30 - May 1 holiday, the September 2 National Day holiday is always the time when the number of railway passengers increases, double compared to normal days, with an estimated 2,000 - 3,000 passengers getting on and off the train each day. With ticket prices more accessible to the majority of people, safe routes, and few delays, the number of passengers during the holiday is always good.
To better serve the needs of passengers, Vietnam Railways will have additional trains to meet the travel needs of people in addition to the fixed trains. All officers and employees of the unit have been approved the passenger service plan during the upcoming holiday.
In contrast to the bustling market of air tickets and train tickets, the booking of bus tickets has not changed much. Contacting bus companies on the routes Vinh - Hanoi, Vinh - Hue, Vinh - Da Nang, Vinh - Hai Phong..., the actual number of customers booking for the holiday is not much.
According to the explanation of the bus companies, this is the type of vehicle with the largest quantity and high competitiveness, not to mention that the North-South Expressway has now passed through Nghe An, so the number of passengers switching to traveling by private cars and shared cars has gradually become more popular, which has also affected the number of passengers traveling by bus. However, it is expected that from August 25 onwards, the number of passengers will increase./.
