Vietnam Airlines gets set for Tet
Duong Tri Thanh, the head of Vietnam Airlines’ customer service department, talked to Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper about coping with excessive passenger demand during Tet, Viet Nam’s Lunar New Year festival.
Some passengers are worried they won’t be able to buy tickets in the run up to Tet. Can you explain the situation?
Every year, as Tet approaches, passenger volume on the HCM City-Ha Noi sector soars. Before Tet there are many more passengers travelling from HCM City to Ha Noi, and the trend reverses after the festival.
Now we are asking customers who make reservations to pay for the tickets quickly so that we can allocate seats to passengers and arrange the flight schedules in the best way.
To help Vietnam Airlines provide a better service, passengers should not double-book seats on different flights because that will overload the system.
The company guarantees every passenger will get a ticket to join their families for the holiday. Last year there were vacant seats on supposedly fully booked flights.
Are there any advantages for passengers who book early?
From last month, Vietnam Airlines reduced prices for old people and students.
Passengers buying tickets 14 days in advance will get a 20 per cent discount, and there is a 10 per cent discount for those bought seven days ahead. This rate only applies to flights between Ha Noi and HCM City, and the Ha Noi, Da Nang, HCM City route.
If customers buy tickets 21 days in advance to fly from Ha Noi to HCM City before Tet, and from HCM City to Ha Noi after Tet, they will pay just VND1.5 million, enjoying a discount of nearly 50 per cent. The price falls to VND1.1 million for those booking 28 days in advance.
Will Vietnam Airlines lay on additional flights to prevent a backlog of passengers for Tet?
During the Lunar New Year festival, Vietnam Airlines will add about 400 more flights, including 50 international flights. Passenger numbers are expected to double in the 10 days around Tet, so more flights are scheduled for this time.
In addition, aircraft twice the size of those being used at the moment will be put into service.
However, customers must still get their tickets in advance, since flights at convenient times are limited. If they don’t, they will have to take late flights.
Flight frequencies on the Ha Noi tp HCM City route will increase by 20 per cent, while services from Da Nang to HCM City will increase by 10 per cent compared with last year.
There will be no schedule changes for flights to other provinces, for example from HCM City to the southern province of Quy Nhon, because of airport and flying time limitations.
In recent years, Viet Nam has received more overseas-based Vietnamese coming back to enjoy Tet, and foreign travellers coming to learn about the festival traditions. How is Vietnam Airlines preparing to serve them?
Planes of more than 300 seats will be used for fifty additional international flights. We are focusing on customers from Russia, Germany, France, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.
To meet the increasing demand of visitors from Australia the airline will add an extra weekly flight.
In addition, we have made plans to handle the large number of Japanese travellers expected with the visa exemption offered by the Vietnamese government.
Vietnam Economic Times - December 13, 2003.
Vietnam Airlines to launch non-stop air link with US in 2005
Vietnamese Airlines will open its first non-stop air link with the United States, offering at least seven flights a week, by late 2005, an airline official said on Tuesday.
Pham Ngoc Minh, Vietnam Airlines Deputy General Director in charge of trade, who was a member of the Government delegation to the US for the signing of the Viet Nam-US Air Transport Agreement, said before service begins, the national flag carrier must finish numerous procedures, including trademark registration, and aircraft fleet and financial source preparations. In order to ensure seven flights a week, three new planes must be put into operation because Vietnam Airlines' existing fleet of aircraft can meet the current demand only.
Under the agreement, Viet Nam will allow US airlines to use three international airports in Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang while it will fly to five international airports in the US. San Francisco may be the first destination Vietnam Airlines chooses for its first non-stop flight in 2005, Minh said.
The number of travellers to Viet Nam from the West Coast, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, accounts for 60 percent of the total US arrivals.
Last year, Viet Nam welcomed nearly 280,000 travellers from the US, of which overseas Vietnamese made up 75 percent. If the two countries' airlines launch their Viet Nam-US service soon, the average number of US travellers to Viet Nam will rise 12-15 percent annually from 6-7 percent at present, he said.
Numerous overseas Vietnamese said they would prefer to fly home with Vietnam Airlines.
However, according to Minh, Vietnam Airlines will face fierce competition from not only US airlines but also those from Japan, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan.
Vietnam Economic Times - December 11, 2003.
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