HA NOI — Football fans have made record bookings with Vietnam Airlines and AirAsia for flights to Kuala Lumpur to see Viet Nam play Malaysia in the semi-final first leg match of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup on December 15.
The tickets, reportedly now almost sold out, were not cheap.
The return fare with Vietnam Airlines is VND9.5 million (US$475) and $365 with budget carrier, AirAsia.
"Our group began planning to fly to Malaysia to support the national team as soon as Viet Nam qualified for the semi-finals," said former The Cong football fan club deputy chairman Nguyen Hong Thuy.
"It was difficult to get tickets for December 14-15 so we booked a day earlier.
"We knew we would have to pay a high price because it's late notice but we will not abandon the team."
The excited fan said her group would carry the national flag, Uncle Ho's portrait, drums, banners and cymbals to the match.
"We will ‘paint' the Bukit Jalil Stadium red with our T-shirts and yellow stars," she said.
Major travel agency Viettravel has chartered two aircraft with a total of 360 seats and is offering return tickets from HCM City for VND8.99 million and VND9.99 million from Ha Noi.
The price includes match entry.
The agent also offers 2-4 day football tours for VND9 million.
Ha Noi-based Redtour also has plans.
"We are co-operating with different partners to satisfy fans' demands and have created a package tour costing $469, some of which have already been sold," said Nguyen Cong Hoan, deputy director of the company.
Tong Thu Hien from Ha Noi Tourist company also confirmed that they were fully booked, saying the phone had not stopped ringing in the past few days but her company had only been able to take group bookings of 16 as it didn't cater for individuals. — VNS
