Travel concerns fail to deter passengers

Air travellers may be concerned about delayed flights, surging airfares, and congestion in the airport, but it is not putting them off flying.

Preliminary findings from 2023 SITA Passenger IT Insights showed 32% of respondents experiencing anxiety around flight cancellations, with nearly two out of ten passengers

surveyed citing concerns around congestion in the airport and pointing to high airfares. This was fuelled by past experience, with 56% of respondents saying they had experienced delays or cancellations and 48% having faced long airport queues.

Yet travellers intend to fly more than ever, SITA found. On average, passengers expect to take 4.7 flights this year compared to 4.2 flights in 2019. This was driven mainly by frequent flyers. Those planning more than ten flights in 2023 have increased from 6% of passengers in 2019 to 10% this year. 

David Lavorel, SITA CEO, said: “It is encouraging for our industry that passengers want to travel and want to travel better in light of some of the challenges airports and airlines have experienced with congestion in the past year.

“We cannot dismiss the fact that the overall experience of air travel is an essential element in passengers’ decision-making. With passengers indicating a clear intention to travel more this year, the industry is well advised to address their concerns, for example, with increased automation.”

Lavorel highlighted that earlier research from SITA indicated that airport and airline CIOs were taking this seriously by pushing digital transformation. The industry’s IT spend is projected to continue its steady year-on-year growth trend since 2020 to support digitalisation and automation. Last year, airline and airport IT spending rose to an estimated $37bn and $6.8bn, respectively. 

SITA surveyed more than 6,000 passengers across 27 countries in April this year as part of the 2023 SITA Passenger IT Insights. The full report will be released in September. 

Image: SITA