The national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines, began selling Tet tickets on November 1. The tickets are for travel between January 25 and March 2, 2013.
The State-owned carrier said it plans an additional 1,000 flights, or 174,500 seats, to meet Tet demand.
The tickets will be sold in two phases. The first one will be from November 1 until mid-December, when 75 per cent of the seats will be sold. The other 25 per cent will be sold from mid-December onwards.
Most of these flights are on the Ha Noi – HCM City – Ha Noi route, which will see an addition of 82,600 seats, an increase of 27 per cent over normal days.
Meanwhile, there will be nearly 46,250 seats on the HCM City – Da Nang route during the same period, up 34 per cent over normal.
The remaining 45,650 additional seats will be offered on routes from HCM City to Phu Quoc, Vinh, Dong Hoi, Nha Trang, Hue, Quy Nhon Buon Ma Thuot and Pleiku.
Other domestic carriers, Vietjet Air, Jetstar Pacific and Air Mekong, began selling Tet tickets two weeks ago. In fact, they have already announced that their low-fare tickets have already been sold out.
The domestic carriers have estimated that demand for the coming Tet festival will increase by 10 per cent over last year.
The Civil Aviation Administration of Viet Nam (CAAV) has said it is considering several measures to accommodate residents' needs during the Tet holiday.
In the peak travelling period, domestic flights could operate even after midnight, said CAAV deputy director Vo Huy Cuong.
Cuong also said that airports will make adjustments to increase their capacities in order to meet high demand at Tet.
In terms of ticket prices, there is apparently no big difference among the different carriers.