Airlines increase fees across the board
According to the announcements of airlines, from April 1st, service fees such as name changes, flight date changes... will be adjusted to increase sharply, not to mention children's ticket prices will also be adjusted to increase to almost the same as adult ticket prices.
Increase service fees
In a notice recently sent to airline ticket agents, two airlines Vietnam Airlines (VNA) and Vietjet said there will be many changes in the structure of airline tickets.
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| From April 1, air passengers will have to pay more due to the increase in some fees, port service fees, security screening fees... |
Among them, VNA said it will increase children's ticket prices from 75% to 90% of adult ticket prices, an increase of 30,000-400,000 VND/way depending on age.
Meanwhile, Vietjet Air said it will increase the name change fee from VND352,000 to VND495,000/person/way for domestic flights and from VND630,000 to VND800,000/person/way for international flights.
The fee for changing domestic flight dates also increased from 352,000 VND to 374,000 VND/person/way, the fee for changing international flight dates from 670,000 VND to 800,000 VND/person/way plus the difference in ticket price.
In particular, the fees applied by airports will also begin to increase according to the roadmap of the Ministry of Transport. Accordingly, from April 1 to June 30, at some airports (Noi Bai, Da Nang, Tan Son Nhat, Cam Ranh, Cat Bi, Vinh, Can Tho, Phu Quoc, Lien Khuong, Phu Bai, Buon Ma Thuot), airport service fees will increase by VND5,000/person, from VND80,000 to VND85,000/trip. This fee will increase to VND100,000/trip from July 1, 2018.
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In addition, the security screening service fee also increased by 6,000 VND/passenger, up to 18,000 VND/passenger. Thus, the aviation service fees alone will increase by 11,000 VND/passenger from April 1.
This is the second slight adjustment of fees and service prices by airports since the beginning of 2018.
Previously, at the end of 2017, airfares increased significantly due to increased fees and service prices, including passenger service prices, security service prices, airline meal prices, and airlines adjusting ticket prices and service fees.
Mr. Vo Huy Cuong - Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam - said that previously, when customers booked a flight date and time, that flight was "fixed" and could not be changed.
Since 2005, the mechanism has been more open, allowing changes in flight times, names or routes... but airlines will charge a fee for this change. As for port service fees, airlines will follow the roadmap of the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance.
Lack of transparency in fees?
An aviation expert said that businesses can increase airfares according to market mechanisms. However, the aviation industry needs to separate and publicize the reasons for fee increases. It is impossible to add fees to airfares, as customers will suffer.
In fact, airlines are still not transparent about fees, affecting consumer rights.
For example, in the current airfare structure, airlines add airline system management costs of 130,000 - 160,000 VND/ticket. According to this expert, when investing in an airline ticket sales management system, it is natural for businesses to invest in a system to serve ticket sales. However, airlines add this fee to the price.
"Airlines should be clear, transparent, and publicly inform passengers about increased fees and routes instead of silently increasing fees," said this expert.
However, according to airlines, fees such as system administration fees, payment utility fees... are to maintain and upgrade the system as well as convenient payment functions, helping passengers to buy airline tickets more simply and conveniently.
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| This is the second slight adjustment of fees and service prices by airports since the beginning of 2018. |
Meanwhile, an airline leader said that airlines have now made the fees they collect public and transparent. Moreover, these are valid fees that airlines are allowed to include in the cost of ticket prices and ticket distribution.
Most airlines around the world have these and similar fees.
Vietjet representative also said that they have applied the method of announcing the original price and separate taxes and fees to be transparent so that customers can grasp the details.
"We have clearly informed about ticket prices and fees when booking tickets, customers must agree to confirm payment. In case customers book tickets through an agent, the agent is responsible for sending tickets to passengers with full information about ticket prices and fees. Customers who do not need to use any service will not have to pay for that service" - this person said.
