The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released the results of its Global Passenger Survey (GPS) for 2022, which showed that after the pandemic, passengers care most about convenience.
It revealed that most concerns for travel post-pandemic are focused on simplification and convenience.
GPS results are based on over 10,000 responses from 222 countries. The survey provides insight into what passengers would like from their air travel experience.
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“Travel during COVID-19 was complex, cumbersome and time-consuming due to government-imposed travel requirements. Post-pandemic, passengers want improved convenience throughout their trip. Digitalization and use of biometrics to speed up the travel journey is the key,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s senior vice president for its Operations, Safety, and Security division.
Planning and Booking
Passengers want convenience when they plan their travel and when choosing where to depart from:
- Proximity to the airport was passengers’ main priority when choosing where to fly from (75%). This was more important than ticket price (39%).
- Travellers were satisfied with being able to pay with their preferred payment method which was available for 82% of travellers. Having access to planning and booking information in one single place was identified as being a top priority.
- 18% of passengers said that they offset their carbon emissions, the main reason given by those that did not was not being aware of the option (36%).
Muhammad Albakri, IATA Senior Vice President of Financial Settlement and Distribution Services, said:
“Today’s travellers expect the same online experience as they get from major retailers like Amazon. Airline retailing is driving the response to these needs. It enables airlines to present their full offer to travellers. And that puts the passenger in control of their travel experience with the ability to choose the travel options that they want with convenient payment options.”
Travel Facilitation
Most travellers are willing to share their immigration information for more convenient processing:
- 37% of travellers said they have been discouraged from travelling to a particular destination because of the immigration requirements.
- Where visas are required, 66% of travellers want to obtain a visa online prior to travel, 20% prefer to go to the consulate or embassy and 14% at the airport.
- 83% of travellers said they would share their immigration information to speed up the airport arrival process.
Airport Processes
Passengers are willing to take advantage of technology to improve the convenience of their airport experience and manage their baggage.
Passengers are willing to complete processing elements off-airport:
- 44% of travellers identified check-in as their top pick for off-airport processing.
- Immigration procedures were the second most popular “top-pick” at 32%, followed by baggage.
- And 93% of passengers are interested in a special program for trusted travellers (background checks) to expedite security screening.
Passengers are interested in more options for baggage handling:
- 67% would be interested in home pick-up and delivery and 73% in remote check-in options.
- 80% of passengers said that would be more likely to check a bag if they could monitor it throughout the journey.
- 50% said that they have used or would be interested in using an electronic bag tag.
Passengers see value in biometric identification:
- 75% of passengers want to use biometric data instead of passports and boarding passes.
- Over a third have already experienced using biometric identification in their travels, with an 88% satisfaction rate.
- Data protection remains a concern for about half of travellers.
“Passengers clearly see technology as key to improving the convenience of airport processes. They want to arrive at the airport ready to fly, get through the airport at both ends of their journey more quickly using biometrics and know where their baggage is at all times. The technology exists to support this ideal experience. But we need cooperation across the value chain and with governments to make it happen. And we need to continuously reassure passengers that the data needed to support such an experience will be safely kept,” said Careen.
IATA’s One ID initiative
The industry is ready to power airport processes with biometrics through IATA’s One ID initiative. COVID-19 has helped governments understand the potential for passengers to share their travel information with them directly and in advance of travel and the power of biometric processes to improve security and facilitation processes and more efficiently use scarce resources.
The proliferation of e-gates at airports is proving the efficiencies that can be gained. IATA’s priority is to support the One ID standards with regulations to allow its users to create a seamless experience across all parts of the passenger journey.
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