In celebration of the National Day holiday, public workers nationwide are entitled to four consecutive days off from August 31 to September 3 and this break takes place before the new school year starts for students, so people's travel and entertainment needs will go up.

Passengers arrive in Da Nang by train. Photo: THANH LAN

A survey on ticket sales websites of travel businesses as well as the Viet Nam Railways Corporation shows that airfares are getting higher as the National Day holiday approaches, and seats onboard many trains have already been fully booked. Meanwhile, the road sector is preparing plans and increasing means of transport to best serve people’s needs during this peak season.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam, the airfares during the National Day holiday break have increased by about 20% compared to normal days. Airlines have plans to increase the number of flights on operating routes, especially domestic tourism ones.

From August 30 to September 3, airlines will operate a total of 4,257 flights, an average of 840 flights/day, an increase of 3% compared to weeks prior to the holiday. The average number of domestic and international flights is 600 flights/day and 241 flights/day, respectively.

For domestic routes, North-South routes (route connecting themajor cities of Ha Noi - Da Nang - Ho Chi Minh City), airlines will increase the number of flights, an average of 241 flights/day, an increase of 8% compared to the previous weeks prior to the holiday and an increase of 14.9% compared to the same period last year.

Particularly, the number of flights to Vinh, Binh Dinh, Da Lat, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc and those from Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City to other localities will also climb up. On average, airlines operate about 171 flights/day on domestic tourist routes and 187 flights/day to other localities.

According to a survey of airfare data from airlines on August 23, ticket prices for flights during the National Day holiday has increased by about 20% compared to normal days

In a similar vein, the Viet nam Railways Corporation has offered preferential policies and ticket discounts applied for social policy beneficiaries such as Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, war invalids, people with disabilities, the elderly, children and students.

Along with that, the number of trains operating on this occasion is also increased. For the North - South railway line alone, in addition to regularly running daily the train pairs: SE1/SE2, SE3/SE4, SE5/SE6, SE7/SE8, SE11/SE12 (Ho Chi Minh City - Ha Noi), SE21/SE22 (Ho Chi Minh City - Da Nang), SNT1/SNT2 (Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang), SPT1/SPT2 (Ho Chi Minh City - Phan Thiet), SE19/SE20 (Ha Noi - Da Nang), HD1/HD2, HD3/HD4 (Hue - Da Nang), NA1/NA2 (Ha Noi - Vinh), there are additional trains from Saigon station to Nha Trang, Quy Nhon stations and vice versa, from Nha Trang to Da Nang and vice versa, from Ha noi to Quang Binh and vice versa.

According to Mr. Pham Loi, General Director of the Da Nang Inter-provincial Coach Station Management and Transport Joint Stock Company, on average, nearly 400 buses depart from Da Nang every day. Up to this point, no bus company has requested to increase trips or ticket prices, and the number of passengers is not expected to increase dramatically, possibly slightly, equivalent to the recent National Reunification Day and May Day holidays.

The coach station has made a plan to arrange additional buses if the number of passengers increases dramatically. Many bus companies intend to increase their fleet to meet people’s travel needs. A representative of Hai Hoang Gia coach company said that the route from the Da Nang coach station to the northern central provinces such as Ha Tinh and Nghe An has been opened for early ticket sales.

Passengers have booked tickets in advance quite a lot and the bus company is committed to not increasing ticket prices. In the Southern region, Mr. Thai Van Truyen, General Director of the Saigon Railway Transport Joint Stock Company, said that when the new expressways have been put into operation, there was a certain shift in the number of passengers from railway to road, especially on the Ho Chi Minh City - Phan Thiet, Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang routes. As with the railway, up to now, some passenger transport companies have sold out tickets  for rides on some routes.

Reporting by THANH LAN - Translating by A.THU