Abundant air tickets available for Tet holidays

With just a few clicks of the mouse one has the information. Customers can now book return tickets through the Internet.-Photo Doan Tung

Director of Nam Phuong Travel Phan Manh Tung said the volume of domestic airline tickets was abundant this year, allowing various options for passengers.

Most of the tickets for flights from HCM City to provinces and cities have been sold out, but there still are many exciting cheap fares for flights departing from the northern region, Tung said.

Nguyen Danh Thang, owner of the Thai Danh airlines ticket agency said paucity of tickets or no tickets during the Tet holiday had occurred on a number of flights, mainly those from HCM City to other regions.

"However, it is not too difficult to buy a pair of return tickets for domestic trips this time," said Thang.

Explaining the non-availability of tickets for certain flights, a representative of Jetstar Pacific Airlines said HCM City and its surrounding areas had numerous industrial parks and big manufacturing companies where thousands of workers from northern region were employed. This had given rise to the increasing demand for air tickets from the city to other areas, mainly the northern region.

According to the budget carrier Vietjet Air, its one-way flight tickets on routes from HCM City to Da Nang, Binh Dinh, Hue and Hai Phong have almost been sold out.

A Vietjet Air representative said the carrier had put into use many new aircraft recently and opened more routes, increasing another 800 flights with 150,000 tickets available for the Tet holiday.

The carrier has also launched reduced fare programmes early, including a zero-price ticket programme, which has attracted a large volume of passengers, the representative said.

Meanwhile, the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines recently announced an increase of 800 one-way domestic and international flights on routes where are in high demand, along with 136,000 seats on 22 routes. The firm has also announced various reduced fares but most of them have been sold.

Vietnam Airlines' passengers from HCM City now only have the choice of booking business class tickets because economy class ones have run out.

Buying tickets through the website has become a favourite and popular trend in recent times as it helps customers save time.

"The procedure to buy a ticket online is easy and saves time. With just a few clicks of the mouse one has the information. Customers can now book return tickets through the Internet," Director Tung from Nam Phuong Travel said.

Tung said the customers who had bought flight tickets through travel agents were mostly passengers living nearby or there were bulk bookings from delegations. "This helps airlines avoid the speculation by agents over airline tickets."

To provide better service to customers during the holiday, airlines including Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific Airlines and Vietjet Air, have committed to increase the number of staff service.