Domestic airlines will increase the number of night flights before, during and after the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday – the biggest traditional festival of Vietnamese - to meet increasing travel demand of passengers.

According to Nguyen Quang Trung, head of Vietnam Airlines’ development planning department, the national flag carrier is adding late night flights during peak time, with the number of flights surging 30% as compared to the same time last year.

The move aims to meet growing air travel demand and ease ground congestion at airports, he added.

Tet airfares are 10% lower than the previous year, and a wide range of flexible fares have been available for customers, Trung said.

Earlier, the Vietnam Airlines Group, which includes Vietnam Airlines, budget carrier Jetstar Pacific and Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO), said it will supply over 414,000 extra seats from January 27 to February 26, 2021 to serve increasing travel demand. This will bring the total seats on flights operated by the Vietnam Airlines Group during the traditional holiday to 2.4 million, equivalent to nearly 12,000 flights.

Vietnam Airlines has increased night flights from 0:00 to 5:30 everyday, with airfares sold at VND200,000-300,000 (US$8.69-13.04) cheaper than those for day flights.

Meanwhile, low-cost carrier Vietjet Air decided to add more flights departing late at 23:30 and early at 5:30, as well as provide 1.5 million Tet tickets on all domestic routes. Besides, it has recently opened sales for 1.5 million promotional airfares (from VND555,000 including taxes and fees).

Bamboo Airways said it recently launched direct flights from Can Tho to Phu Quoc island, and Con Dao island in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. The non-stop service will be operated during the week, using Embraer 195 aircraft. On the occasion, the airline offers special fares on the route, with one-way ticket priced from VND49,000 on Can Tho-Phu Quoc, and VND809,000 on Can Tho-Con Dao.

Director of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) Dinh Viet Thang has issued a directive on enhancing safety measures for airplane during maintenance downtime since the number of airplanes in maintenance during non-service period is increasing due to COVID-19.

He ordered airlines to keep a close watch and strictly follow airplane manufacturers’ instructions on maintenance.