The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has asked Vietnamese airlines to supplement transportation capacity and increase supply on international and domestic routes.

Airlines should actively work with global aircraft leasing partners to improve their fleet capacity. This includes replacing aircraft grounded due to engine recalls and exploring options to increase seat capacity on domestic routes, particularly those serving popular tourist destinations, such as flights to and from Cần Thơ International Airport, the CAAV said in directives issued earlier this week.

CAAV also required airlines to continue strictly complying with regulations on domestic passenger air transport service prices and declaring airfares, encouraging them to implement flexible pricing ranges and maintain policies that offer discounted fares.

Information about their promotional programmes and fare discounts should be widely publicised, according to the CAAV.

The CAAV has also directed airlines to regularly monitor and supervise their electronic ticket sale systems and agent-based sales channels, identifying and addressing activities related to ticket sales, price declarations and listing violations of legal regulations and airline policies.

General Director of Bamboo Airways Lương Hoài Nam said domestic airfares can cool down and cheap tickets can be available, only when the aircraft fleet is expanded.

Currently, the total number of aircraft operated by local airlines is only about 160, a shortage of 60-70 aircraft compared to that of the pre-pandemic period, Nam told vnbusiness.vn.

He said his airline is striving to increase its fleet to serve the domestic market through searching and negotiating with partners around the world.

The airline plans to lease one more aircraft from now until the end of the year so that it can launch new domestic routes such as HCM City-Đà Lạt, HCM City-Thanh Hóa, HCM City-Phú Quốc to better serve passengers, he told the online newspaper.

To solve the aircraft shortage, experts suggested airlines increase investment in expanding supply chain hubs. This includes strengthening negotiations with leading aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus to ensure on-time aircraft deliveries and meet the increasing market demand.

They described investing in a diverse and high-performance fleet as an important strategy to help airlines avoid major impacts from aircraft shortages.

By owning different types of aircraft and updating new technology, airlines can be flexible in adjusting their networks and optimising operations, experts said.

The Bamboo Airways general director also said at a recent conference that there are still 30,000-40,000 airplanes now operational in the world and that 60-100 of them are immediately available if they are offered higher rentals.

He added that it would take up to five years to build a hotel, but only 15 days to rent planes.

However, Nam said, the currently very outdated management mechanisms made the carriers suffer bigger losses if they rent more planes, suggesting a dynamic amendment for the mechanisms to make it possible to reduce the airfares.

Hoàng Nhân Chính, Head of the Secretariat of the Tourism Advisory Board, said the airfare hike harms not only the aviation and tourism sectors but also many other economic fields, especially the livelihood of many people.

He said that if airfares are reduced “only by a little”, it can make many Vietnamese prefer domestic tours to outbound ones and this can stimulate domestic tourism. — VNS