Better service, cheaper tickets and a robust economy meant Vietnamese residents chose the airways over boat travel last year, while the number of train passengers fell dramatically. 

Vietnam Airlines carried 6 million passengers while other local carriers hauled 300,000, representing an increase of 24 percent over last year, Ministry of Transport reported.

Robust economic growth fueled the increase, as well as improved quality of air service, cheaper air tickets and airline promotional campaigns.

Only 13.8 million passengers traveled by train in 2005, a 33 percent decrease compared with 2004. The railway sector was the only transport service that experienced a decrease in the number of passengers.

Minor differences in the price of air and railway tickets, especially those on long routes such as Hanoi - Da Nang, Hanoi - Nha Trang and Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City, were a major reason behind the rise in air travel, the ministry said.

Many passengers also cited better services on planes than on trains, according to the report, and competition from the modern buses, especially high-quality bus services.

Traveling by bus was the most popular form of transport, with bus coaches and smaller buses carrying 1.1 billion passengers, 8.2 percent higher than the previous year.

About 2.5 million passengers traveled by boat in 2005, a year-on-year increase of 7.2 percent and 169 million passengers used river services, a 3.2 percent increase compared to 2004.

Despite the growth, an official from the Ministry of Planning and Investment said Vietnamese carriers remained less competitive than transport companies in other countries.

The Ministry of Transport said the total number of passengers carried in all transport sectors was some 1.2 billion passengers in 2005, a year-on-year increase of 7.5 percent.

Source: VNA