The overall on-time departure rate for all Vietnamese airlines reached 60% in January, down 7.7% year-on-year, according to reports from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

Bamboo Airways led the way with an on-time rate of 84.3%. It was followed by Pacific Airlines (74.9%) and Vietnam Airlines (69%). Meanwhile, Vietravel Airlines and Vietjet Air recorded the punctuality rate of 57.2% and 46.8%, respectively.

The primary cause of the decline in on-time rate was overloading of major airports and tough weather conditions such as fog, particularly in the northern region.

The number of passengers travelling by air in January, particularly during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, skyrocketed. In the nine-day holiday alone, the aviation sector transported 2.5 million passengers, up 17.8% year-on-year. Of which, there were 1.35 million international passengers, a year-on-year rise of 23%.