The number of passengers travelling by air during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holidays is forecast to rise 11 per cent compared with the same period last year, said Director of Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) Dinh Viet Thang.

Thang said domestic airlines had registered an additional 3,650 flights, equivalent to 465,000 seats, compared to the regular flight schedule, using up to 19 domestic airports.

This figure brings the total number of flights across the aviation network to 28,500, up 8.7 per cent compared to the 2018 Tet holiday. This marks a total of 5.5 million seats.

Routes with increased flights include HCM City-Ha Noi with 600 flights, HCM City-Da Nang with 520 fights and HCM City-Thanh Hoa with 400 flights.

Thang said there were still 1.8 million seats available. However, the flights from HCM City to localities were almost full for the end of the lunar year. On the return routes, there were still a large number of tickets available.

“Regarding the management and control of airfare, the CAAV has instructed airlines to strictly comply with regulations on management of airfares. No company is reportedly to have sold tickets beyond the ceiling price. Airlines publicise ticket prices and seats at the ticketing counters in airports and display on the screen the number of seats available on each flight,” Thang said. — VNS