Air tickets sell fast after domestic routes reopen

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has sold more than 80 percent of seats on domestic flights after ticket sales opened Oct. 10.

Flights between Hanoi and HCMC, and HCMC and the central localities of Thanh Hoa and Hue, Hanoi and Da Nang, have been the most booked.

Flights on these routes are almost full on Oct 10-12, according to a Vietnam Airlines representative. One-way tickets on the Hanoi – HCMC and HCMC – Thanh Hoa routes cost VND3.5 million ($154) each; HCMC- Hue and Hanoi – Da Nang, VND2.4 million each.

“I have tried to book a flight back to Hanoi, but the Vietnam Airlines website informed me seats have already been fully booked till Oct. 13,” Bui Ngoc Quang, a quality assurance officer at the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities said.

Quang said he wants to fly back to his hometown, a village in Hanoi’s outskirts, as soon as possible, because his wife had recently given birth to a girl baby, their first child, but he has been unable to meet them for weeks. In late August, aviation authorities had instructed airlines to stop selling tickets until further notice as the Covid-19 outbreak raged.