Passenger numbers during this period are forecast to increase by around 10–15% compared with the same period last year.
Airlines have seized the opportunity by planning to increase flight frequencies, prepare additional resources and open ticket sales early. The rail and road transport sectors have also developed plans to invest in additional carriages and vehicles to meet the rising travel demand.
Many air routes close to being fully booked
According to representatives of Viet Nam Airlines, demand in the ticket market during the upcoming Tet holiday has risen sharply on many domestic routes, particularly flights from Ho Chi Minh City to northern provinces and the central–Central Highlands region before Tet, and in the opposite direction after Tet. Many other routes from Ho Chi Minh City to localities nationwide have also recorded load factors of around 85–90%.
To meet the increased travel demand during the Lunar New Year, the Viet Nam Airlines Group (including Viet Nam Airlines, Pacific Airlines and VASCO) has made available more than 3.5 million seats across its entire network.
In early November, the aviation market became more vibrant with the debut of leisure airline Sun PhuQuoc Airways (SPA), part of Sun Group.
General Director of SPA Nguyen Manh Quan said that during the Tet peak period, the airline has opened sales for around 230,000 Tet tickets on its operating routes. According to the airline, demand for combined tourism and leisure travel during Tet is rising, with young families tending to book flights early to Phu Quoc to fully enjoy the holiday.
Recently, Bamboo Airways received an additional Airbus A320 aircraft, enabling the airline to increase capacity by about 16% during the Tet peak, raise frequencies on existing routes and resume several routes such as Ho Chi Minh City–Nghe An, Thanh Hoa and Hai Phong.
Vietravel Airlines has also recorded a rapid increase in Tet ticket purchases on key routes. Before Tet, load factors on Ho Chi Minh City–Vinh and Ho Chi Minh City–Quy Nhon routes exceeded 90%, while Ho Chi Minh City–Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City–Da Nang reached around 70%. After Tet, return flights from Vinh and Quy Nhon to Ho Chi Minh City were largely fully booked, with some days completely sold out.
Under its restructuring plan following T&T Group’s takeover, Vietravel Airlines has wet-leased an additional A320 aircraft for the Tet period, launched two new domestic routes linking Ho Chi Minh City with Hai Phong and Thanh Hoa, resumed the Ha Noi–Nha Trang route, and developed charter flights on routes such as Ha Noi–Anhui (China).
A survey of ticket prices shows that airlines have generally raised Tet airfares this year by 100,000–200,000 VND (3.8–7.7 USD) compared with last year. On the Ho Chi Minh City–Ha Noi route, fares are around 3.7 million VND (140.7 USD) per ticket. On peak days before Tet (the 25th–26th days of the last lunar month), tickets from Ho Chi Minh City to Quang Tri, Nghe An and Thanh Hoa have already sold out, while return flights to Ho Chi Minh City on the 5th–6th days of the first lunar month of 2026 show a similar situation.
Railways add carriages and increase services
The railway sector officially opened ticket sales for the Lunar New Year from September 20, 2025. The Tet transport peak runs from February 3 to March 8, 2026, operating 55 train services with more than 500 carriages, supplying around 335,000 tickets for long-distance passengers. By December 25, about 15,000 tickets had been sold, with availability still remaining on pre-Tet services from southern stations to Vinh, Thanh Hoa and Ha Noi.
On December 26, in response to the four-day 2026 New Year holiday (January 1–4), the railway sector added 20,000 seats. In addition to daily regular services, the company will operate additional short-haul trains and add extra carriages to existing services.
Earlier, on December 19, Viet Nam Railways invested more than 60 billion VND (2.3 million USD) to comprehensively upgrade 162 carriages in terms of technology and interior fittings. According to Hoang Gia Khanh, General Director of Viet Nam Railways, the project was the result of three months of intensive emulation labour by staff and workers across relevant units.
Amid rising travel demand, Ha Noi has issued a transport service plan to ensure traffic order and safety during the 2026 New Year and the Lunar New Year. Transport companies have been required to arrange sufficient vehicles, strengthen reserve capacity, sell tickets early and sign transport contracts with universities and industrial zones to ease peak-day pressure. The city has also announced hotlines for public feedback on transport services during the Tet peak period.
