Airlines change routes, cut frequencies on low demand

Domestic airlines, including Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific and Air Mekong, have restructured their routes and frequencies in order to deal with low demand for air travel, which often lasts throughout November.
As the latest airline in the local aviation market, Air Mekong is counting on multi-sector routes to attract passengers. The carrier launched the Hanoi-HCMC-Con Dao route earlier this month and will commence the HCMC-Buon Ma Thuot-Vinh route from October 1.
The HCMC-Buon Ma Thuot-Vinh route is extension of the current HCMC-Buon Ma Thuot route, on which Air Mekong flies every day. The airline expects the new service will be attractive to passengers who want to travel by air between Buon Ma Thuot and Vinh, as no carriers offer flights between the Central Highlands city and the city in north-central Vietnam.
With the Hanoi-HCMC-Con Dao route, Air Mekong targets those passengers who travel from the capital city to the resort island off Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.
Jetstar Pacific, meanwhile, has reduced frequencies on certain routes with unstable demand for air travel. For example, the low-cost carrier has halved its number of flights between HCMC and Hue to one daily service and now operates 9-11 daily flights for the HCMC-Hanoi route and 11 HCMC-Haiphong flights per week.
Jetstar Pacific explained it conducted the number of daily and weekly flights depending on bookings, which vary from day to day during the low season, when demand for air travel to tourist destinations could fall by 35-40% from summertime.
Earlier this month, the country’s second largest carrier suspended its Hanoi-Nha Trang service as demand plunged after summer and business was not efficient in a time of rising operating costs.
Due to increasing input spending, Vietnam Airlines has proposed a 1.5-fold rise in fare ceilings as a measure to help airlines weather tough times, with approval probably in November.
In addition to frequency adjustment, the national flagship carrier provides passengers with more conveniences and added values.
From next week, Vietnam Airlines will allow passengers to use the Sacombank Plus debit card to pay online for the tickets booked via the carrier’s website. Sacombank will become the ninth bank partner of the airline for such online payment.
Vietnam Airlines has added hotels and resorts of three to five-star ratings in different local destinations to the list of properties applicable for its customers of free and easy packages.
Air Mekong lures passengers by offering them a 20% discount for room tariffs at Con Dao Resort on the island where the carrier started to conduct flights on the Hanoi-HCMC-Con Dao route. Passengers are also subject to free-of-charge tennis, mini golf and kayak services for an hour a day.
Vietnam Airlines and its subsidiary Vietnam Air Service Co. (Vasco), Jetstar Pacific and Air Mekong currently exploit 40 domestic routes to 20 airports in Vietnam.