Lookatvietnam – Local airlines have reported a surge in business during the Lunar New Year holidays, or Tet, but it was not as good as last year given the availability of more services and the economic woes in both Vietnam and the world.

“The current economic challenges force people to tighten their belt, and vacationers to spend less on their holidays,” Tuan told the Daily on the phone on Sunday, two days after the official end of the biggest and longest public holiday.

Tuan said travelers occupied almost all the seats on the flights of Vietnam’s first operational private airline from HCMC to Hanoi and Danang before Lunar New Year’s Day but seat occupancy for the flights on the opposite directions was not high at the same time.

“As usual, air travel picks up on the routes from HCMC to Hanoi, Danang and other sites in the run up to Tet as a lot of people return home for family reunion on this special occasion,” Tuan said. “Occupancy for the flights on the opposite routes peaks after Tet as they get back to work.”

Therefore, bookings for flights from Hanoi to HCMC before Tet, and those from HCMC to Hanoi after Tet were not as high as expected, especially in the face of tough times, Tuan said. He put average seat occupancy for Indochina Airlines’ flights during Tet at 80%.

Nguyen Thi Thuy Binh, chief commercial officer of Jetstar Pacific, told the Daily on the phone on Sunday that almost all flights of this low-cost air carrier during the New Year of Buffalo holiday were full.

However, airlines said air tickets were not quickly booked for the flights during this Tet and air travel was not as tight as the same period of last Tet, particularly on the HCMC-Hanoi and HCMC-Danang routes which were joined by Indochina Airlines since late November.

In addition to the flights by the new airline, Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific increase a large number of services to meet the surging air travel during the biggest holiday of Vietnam.

Vietnam Airlines plans to add over 830 flights between Hanoi and HCMC, and HCMC and Danang until February 9, offering more than 180,000 seats.

Vietnam Airlines’ additional seats for this Tet holiday are 33% higher on the flights between Hanoi and HCMC and 36% on the HCMC-Danang route than the number of extra seats respectively on the same routes during the last Tet holiday.

The national flag air carrier estimates its daily number of seats grow from at least 53% on the peak days during this Tet for the Hanoi-HCMC run, and surge up to 117-200% for the HCMC-Danang route compared to normal days.

Vietnam’s low-cost airline Jetstar Pacific has operated 10 flights between Hanoi and HCMC during Tet, instead of seven on this trunk route or a 40% increase in seating capacity on its services between the two biggest cities.

Jetstar Pacific offered the market an additional 30,240 seats on the flights between the two cities during Tet, up 15% compared to normal days. The airline continues operating triple daily services between HCMC and Danang, as well as daily flights between here and Hue city, Vinh and Haiphong, and between Hanoi and Nha Trang, Danang and Can Tho cities.

Local airlines had to delay or cancel fewer flights during this Tet than the previous occasion because of good weather. However, human errors turned out to be the main problem.

Jetstar Pacific had to postpone a flight from Cam Ranh Airport in Khanh Hoa Province to Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi for three hours after a passenger opened the exit door for no reason when the plane was ready to take off on Tuesday, or the second day of the Lunar New Year.

The incident also forced Jetstar Pacific to transport its passengers by road from Can Tho to HCMC to board its flight at Tan Son Nhat Airport for departure to Hanoi, instead of departing from Can Tho as scheduled.

Tuan of Indochina Airlines said all the flights of this carrier departed on schedule while Vietnam Airlines has not reported any delays and cancellations.

VietNamNet/SGT