Air tickets sold out on some routes almost one month before Lunar New Year

Oanh of Ho Chi Minh City has had no difficulty in past years booking a ticket to the central province of Quang Nam one month before Lunar New Year, but she has not been able to get one this year.

"I asked some agents to book a ticket for me but none was able to do so. So I have to fly to [neighboring] Da Nang City instead."

Another HCMC resident, Chi, managed to book an onward flight to Quang Binh Province but could not get a return ticket after the holidays, which fall on Feb. 8-14 this year.

"Prices are higher but the number of flights is lower than previous years," she said.

Pham Thi Thu, a ticket agent in Hanoi, said flights are full on several routes between HCMC and central provinces during the holidays.

There are six airlines in the country, but Bamboo Airways and Vietravel Airlines have scaled down operations.

"Many routes are almost fully booked and only business class tickets remain," Thu said.

HCMC ticket agent Hong Anh said there are fewer flights between HCMC and Quang Binh, Quang Nam, Thanh Hoa, and Vinh this year and therefore most were sold out earlier this month.

As of Jan. 12 airlines had sold 80-100% of seats departing HCMC and Hanoi between Jan. 24 and Feb. 25, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.