Additional National Day plane, train tickets 70% unsold

But that might have been the wrong move.

Ticket prices have not increased and the upcoming four-day holiday from Sept. 1 to 4 was expected to prompt a travel tickets sales boom. However, that has yet to materialize, especially to destinations like Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, Da Nang, and Quy Nhon.

Vietnam Airlines’ round-trip Hanoi-Phu Quoc flights from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4 only cost VND4-4.5 million ($167.82-188.88). The same route on the same days with Vietjet Air costs just VND3 million.

A Vietnam Airlines representative said the carrier has increased the number of flights for the holiday period, leading to a high number of seats available.

Vietnam Airlines Group plans to make around 400,000 seats available on domestic flight routes from August 31-September 5, a 15% increase from last year. For international routes, over 155,000 seats will be available, twice as many as the same period in 2022.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said most of the flights to popular tourist destinations during the National Day holiday are only 30-40% full, with certain flights at favorable hours 50-60% full, similar to regular summer periods and with no marked differences in sales from previous years.

Some of the possible reasons include a long-lasting Reunification Day holiday (April 30) and the fact that people have already gone on summer holidays before the beginning of the new school year.

While peak summer periods are expected to last until August 15, the number of passengers had already returned to normal levels in early August.

Regarding trains, the Hanoi Railway Transport company has sold some 14,000 tickets, about only 30% of the tickets they made available for National Day.

For buses, stations in Hanoi have also added 640 bus rides for the holiday.

A representative of the Hanoi Transport Station said the long holiday would likely lead to an increased transportation demand on land, mainly in localities with tourist attractions like Phu Tho, Quang Ninh, Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Thai Binh, Lao Cai and Son La. The number of travelers would rise from August 31 until the end of September 5, the representative predicted.

Giap Bat Station is expected to receive around 12,000 passengers a day, twice as many as usual. Gia Lam Station is expected to receive around 4,000 passengers a day, also twice as many as usual. The My Dinh Station anticipates around 15,000 passengers a day, around 2.5% higher than usual.