The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines began offering between 15% and 30% discounts on some of its under-500km domestic routes on 12 January.  Since then, intending travellers have been rushing to buy the promotional airfares for the forthcoming Tet Festival. 

However, many Da Nang residents are finding it hard to buy them because many of the seats had already been sold before the airline started offering its attractive discounts.

Vietnam Airlines aircraft at Da Nang International Airport

Tickets were sold out 2 months ago from Da Nang to the cities of Vinh and Can Tho, routes which now offer the discounts.  Meanwhile, the fares for services from Da Nang to Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City remain relatively high.

The other airlines, VietJet Air and Jetstar Pacific, are also launching airfare promotion programmes and lucky draws for their passengers.  Their discounts have been offered on flights departing from Da Nang to Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City before Tet, and those departing from these 2 localities back to Da Nang after Tet.  However, these services are seeing a relatively low volume of bookings by local passengers.