Arriving at one’s destination has been rated as the most favourite aspect of a journey by more than 51 per cent of over 3,000 air travellers. The Global Passenger Survey conducted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) also shows that the most popular activity on board an aircraft was watching movies (41 per cent), followed by reading (21 per cent).
The Survey, which included passengers from 114 countries who had travelled by air in the last 12 months, was released late Thursday in Geneva. The participating countries include India, China, US, Canada, UAE, Ukraine, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Iran and Iraq.
More than half of the respondents had booked their flights themselves, mostly through an airline website. Nearly all air travellers (98 per cent) found proactive notifications of flight disruptions a good idea, preferably if they received a text message on their mobile phones and 77 per cent were comfortable using biometric identification available for more convenient airport transit. The majority (71 per cent) preferred using a self-boarding device, such as a mobile, at the gate. An even greater majority (86 per cent) was prepared to provide an airline passport details in advance to allow a smoother journey while 81 per cent were interested in being able to track their bags in real time.
More than half of the travellers felt that an acceptable queuing time at a security point was between 5-10 minutes. Queuing time is mentioned most frequently as being frustrating as it involves security screening followed by removing shoes and belts. A significant majority (75 per cent) had much rather go through a full body scanner than have a full pat down by a security officer. This preference was the lowest among West Asian travellers.
Seventy-three per cent of the respondents were willing to share their personal background information with Governments in order to speed up security screening (highest acceptance in North America - 85 per cent and lowest in Europe - 66 per cent). Nearly all travellers (93 per cent) felt that dedicated security lanes were a good idea.
Portions of the Survey will probably be bad news for global airlines, several of whom spend hundreds of millions of dollars sprucing up aircraft cabin and installing expensive communication and entertainment systems to win over customers.