Why do weekend airfares increase?

Passengers arriving in Da Nang by air tend to increase on weekends. Photo: PHUONG UYEN

The summer of 2025 is witnessing a vibrant "wave" of domestic tourism , especially in coastal cities like Da Nang.

According to statistics from airline booking platforms, the number of searches and flight bookings to Da Nang increases from Friday to Sunday.

The main reason is that many young people, office workers or families can only rest from Friday afternoon to Sunday. Da Nang is a coastal city with cool air, becoming the priority choice.

Many entertainment activities such as the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival (DIFF) 2025, cultural and artistic programs and performances at Ba Na Hills held on weekends, attract more tourists.

Despite the high demand, the air transport system to Da Nang with flights on weekends has not kept up, causing ticket prices to increase significantly compared to weekdays.

According to a survey from online ticketing platforms on July 11, domestic airfares during peak weekend periods in July 2025 and August 2025 are at a high level. Specifically, the Ho Chi Minh City - Da Nang route of Vietnam Airlines is at 2.1-2.4 million VND (depending on flight time). Meanwhile, during the same 2-month summer period, the same flight fare on weekdays is only 1.5-1.8 million VND.

In addition, ticket prices for the routes Da Nang - Hanoi; Da Nang - Hai Phong and vice versa also increased similarly during this time.

Thus, compared to the time of buying tickets from the beginning of May 2025, for trips in July and August 2025, ticket prices will increase by about 15-25%.

However, overall, this year's ticket supply is not only abundant but also highly differentiated in price. Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways have kept prices quite stable and high since the beginning of the season, while Vietjet Air and Vietravel Airlines have been more flexible, launching many promotional programs.

The high price of airfares and difficulty in booking not only affects tourists, but also directly affects the rate of hotel bookings during the weekend. Beach hotels recorded room occupancy rates of 90-100% on Fridays and Sundays, while midweek occupancy was only around 40-60%.

Food and beverage services, individual tours, car rentals, photography… are all "very crowded on weekends, sparse on weekdays".

There are many reasons for the shift towards weekend travel such as work and study pressure that makes many people unable to arrange long trips and have to choose short 2-3 day vacations.

Besides, attractive promotions from travel service providers often focus on weekend combo packages, stimulating tourists' demand.

Ms. Hoang Uyen (a tourist from Hanoi) said that for Da Nang, one of the top destinations in Vietnam with beautiful beaches, rich cuisine and many entertainment areas, it is understandable that tourists flock here on weekends. Places such as My Khe, Dragon Bridge, Love Bridge, Ba Na Hills, Ngu Hanh Son, Linh Ung Pagoda... are always crowded with tourists these days.

Although airlines have made certain efforts to increase flights and offer some promotions and ticket prices, especially during prime time and weekends, ticket prices remain high.

In the context of increased travel demand on weekends, the increase in airfares has caused many difficulties for people, especially passengers with average incomes. Although airlines explain that this is an inevitable reaction of the market according to the law of supply and demand, many opinions say that appropriate regulatory solutions are needed to ensure the rights of passengers and avoid the situation of prices being pushed up too much.

Therefore, in the coming time, coordination between management agencies and air transport enterprises is needed.

It is known that the Ministry of Construction has requested the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to review the price lists and make ticket increases transparent, avoiding cases of "illegal price increases".

However, the key to cooling down weekend ticket prices is still to increase supply (increase flights, add planes), stabilize fuel prices and optimize surcharges.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/vi-sao-ve-may-bay-cuoi-tuan-tang-3265688.html