Regional airlines discount tickets to attract customers

After Jetstar Pacific and Vietnam Airlines, the privately-owned Air Mekong has entered the discount ticket race.

On Tuesday, the airline announced a temporary promotion for groups of three passengers on the same flight from August 15 to October 10, when each ticket will be discounted from VND50,000 (US$2.43) to VND100,000 ($4.85).

Starting yesterday, cheaper tickets will be also available for customers from 9am Friday to 12pm Saturday. Lowest prices are offered for the six domestic air routes from HCM City to Phu Quoc, Con Dao, Da Lat, Buon Me Thuot, Pleiku and Quy Nhon at VND450,000 ($21.8).

Earlier, national carrier Vietnam Airlines announced it would discount 350,000 tickets by 40 per cent on both domestic and international routes. Between August 15-31, passengers can buy return tickets for flights to Southeast Asia with the cheapest price at $59 or for flights to Europe at $499 depending on the destination.

Vietnam Airlines said that its promotional programme aimed to better support the travel demand of passengers struggling with rising inflation.

Representatives from these two airlines were not available for further comment on the discounts.

Analysts said the discounts increased competition among carriers for lower prices, but not necessarily for better service. They explained that in tough economic conditions, many passengers were choosing to sacrifice comfort for reduced cost.

A specialist, who declined to be named, took Jetstar Pacific as a good example. When the budget carrier made its debut, its flights were always filled to capacity. When it began to face financial difficulties, flight cancellations became more common and its number of passengers decreased.

If two other airlines, Vietjet Air and Indochina Telecom, entered the domestic aviation market, competitive pressure would grow and consumers would be the ones to benefit from their future incentives, he concluded. — VNS

Tags: Air Mekong, Jetstar Pacific, Vietnam airlines

Posted by VBN on Aug 13 2011. Filed under Aviation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry