The Ministry of Finance has given thumbs-up to raise ceiling prices for airfares on domestic routes, effective from April 27.

For distances under 300km, the maximum fare will increase by 26.6 percent to 863,636 VND (41 USD) per ticket; for distances from 300km to under 500km, the ceiling price will rise 27.3 percent to 1.1 million VND (53 USD); for distances from 500km to less than 850km, the increase is 25.2 percent to 1.48 million VND (71 USD).

For distances further than 850km, the maximum fare will increase from 1.82 million VND (87 USD) per ticket to 1.9 million VND (91 USD); for distances below 1,000km, to 2.22 million VND (107 USD); for distances less than 1,280km; and to 2.72 million VND (131 USD) for distances more than 1,280km.

Earlier in March, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) proposed to the Ministry of Finance to raise the ceiling prices of domestic flights from 20 percent to 27 percent, depending on flight distances.

Currently, about 71 percent of the total costs of aviation businesses must be paid in US dollars and fuel costs make up about 36 percent.

Thus, according to the CAAV, the increase was calculated mainly on the fluctuation of exchange rates, recent fuel price hikes and other input costs./.