Danang-bound flights for upcoming holidays almost full

Almost all seats to the central coastal city of Danang on Vietnam’s two leading carriers, Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific, have been booked, in the lead up to the two upcoming public holidays – Reunification Day and International Labor Day.
Ho Quang Tuan, commercial head of Vietnam Airlines in Central Vietnam, said bookings for the flights on April 30 and May 1 had surged and that passengers had reserved all the seats on many flights from Hanoi and HCMC to Danang, and vice versa.
Tuan said that the national flag carrier would operate eight to nine flights between Hanoi and Danang per day from April 28 to 30, but only a small number of seats were still empty on two of the flights.
Vietnam Airlines reported the same situation with the HCMC-Danang route, on which the carrier will conduct more flights. However, seats are still available for two of the 13 flights on April 30.
Vietnam’s second largest carrier Jetstar Pacific has sold all tickets for its daily flights from Hanoi to Danang on April 28, 29 and 30, and has a small number of seats available on the flights between HCMC and Danang.
Jetstar Pacific said tickets had run out for flights from Danang to Hanoi on May 2 and 3. Vietnam Airlines does not have any seats left for Danang to HCMC on May 3, and only has business class seats on the flights from Danang to Hanoi on May 2 to 4.
Vietnam Airlines will add nearly 30 flights to and from Danang from April 28 to May 3, providing an extra 4,000 seats for the market, to accommodate extra demand.
Jetstar Pacific now operates four daily flights between HCMC and Danang, and one return flight on the Hanoi-Danang route everyday. The low-cost carrier said it did not have any plans to increase frequencies on these routes over the public holidays.
Tour operators said it was difficult to book air tickets for groups while individuals claimed that they had to pay high fares.