With over 10 days left until Vietnamese Lunar Calendar 2020 comes to a close, Vietnamese people are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival, the biggest traditional festival of Vietnamese people, will begin on 12 February. Air, road and railway transport service providers across Da Nang have already prepared plans to serve the expected massive influx of passengers.

There has been a surge in travel demand for Tet. Picture was taken at Da Nang inter-provincial coach station

Mr Pham Loi, General Director of Da Nang-based Transportation and Bus Station Management JSC, said that 37 ticketing counters at the city’s inter-provincial coach station are selling tickets for Tet around the clock.

The fares have gone up by between 20% and 60% against normal days, depending on the route distance and departure time.

There are sufficient inter-provincial passenger coach services for passengers over the forthcoming Tet break, the company affirmed.

As for rail transportation, the city’s railway station, over recent days, has seen a quieter ambiance as compared to the same period last year.

Train ticket booking has mainly been made via online, a representative from the Da Nang branch of Vietnam Railways Corporation said.

Passengers can buy tickets at the Da Nang Railway Station, ticket offices and other official outlets across Viet Nam, and they can find great deals on train tickets at www.dsvn.vn, vetau.com.vn and giare.vetau.vn.

Compared to the same period last year, there is no hike in this year's Tet train fare, by a rise of 30- 40% against normal days, depending on routes.

To stimulate travel by train for Tet, Viet Nam's national railway industry is offering a 50% discount on fares for children aged 10 and under traveling with their parents on any route of more than 500km during Tet. 

Likewise, school pupils along with college and university students who take train journeys before the 20^th day of the lunar December are eligible for a discount of 30%.

People buying coach tickets for Tet at the city’s inter-provincial coach station

In a similar vein, domestic airlines have increased the number of night flights before, during and after Tet to meet an increasing travel demand of passengers.

According to Nguyen Quang Trung, head of Vietnam Airlines’ development planning department, the national flag carrier has added 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. Tet airfares are 10% lower than the previous year, and a wide range of flexible fares are available for customers.

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

Vietnam Airlines has increased flights from 0:00 am to 5:30 am everyday, with airfares sold at 200,000-300,000 VND (8.69-13.04US$) cheaper than those for day flights.

For the time being, the city’s inter-provincial coach station, airport and railway station is witnessing the strict practice of the Health Ministry-mandated 5K (in Vietnamese) motto: namely ‘Khau trang’ (Face mask) – ‘Khu khuan’ (Disinfection) – ‘Khoang cach’ ‘Distance’ - ‘Khong tu tap’ (No gathering) – ‘Khai bao y te’ (Health Declaration) over the upcoming Tet holiday in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus. 

By THANH LAN- Translated by A.T