HCMC – Sleeper bus tickets on the routes from HCMC to central provinces have been sold out as the travel demand surges in the run up to the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

Many transport businesses reported that their sleeper buses had been fully occupied for trips from January 17 to 19 (or from the 26th to 28th of the final lunar month) on the routes to Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen.

Dao Viet Anh, general director of Futabusline, said they still have lots of sleeper bus tickets available for trips prior to January 11. However, the tickets after that day until January 20 are out of stock.

Some 22 travel operators at the new Mien Dong Coach station have registered to sell 71,102 pre-Tet tickets. Currently, only 28,078 bus tickets are still up for grabs.

Tickets for seater buses are still available on the routes from HCMC to Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen, especially before January 15, according to a representative of the new Mien Dong Coach station.

The new coach station has arranged more buses to serve the rising travel demand before and during Tet and asked the local authorities to strictly handle violations in dropping off and picking up passengers in inner-city areas.

The old Mien Dong Coach station reported a plunge in passenger numbers as the majority of bus routes had been moved to the new coach station in Thu Duc City. The station has only operated routes to the Central Highlands and provinces connected to National Highways 13 and 14.

However, some 90% of the sleeper bus tickets from January 17 to 19 have been sold out.