SITA Releases Landmark Passenger Survey Data, Forecasts Doubling Of Global Air Travel By 2040
With global air travel set to nearly double in the next 15 years, passengers are demanding smarter, faster, and more seamless airport experiences.
This was revealed by SITA, a global leader in aviation communications and IT, which, for the first time in its 75-year history, released data from one of its surveys during the Airports Council International Latin America and the Caribbean (ACI-LAC) Assembly, Conference and Exhibition, currently taking place in Port of Spain this week.
Speaking at the Hyatt Regency hotel on Monday, SITA’s Chief Executive Officer, David Lavorel, noted that the company chose to release the data at the conference.
« We are unveiling the result of a survey that we’ve been conducting for 15 years, and we’ve been talking basically to passengers on a worldwide basis with good representation. We talked to about 7,500 people worldwide. Basically, we are forecasting that by 2040 there will be some eight billion passengers worldwide. By way of perspective, that would be a near doubling from where we are now. So, basically, a near doubling of passenger volume over the next 15 years. It’s a great trend. Aviation is very important to overall economic growth, tourism, and development in many places around the world. »
Mr Lavorel shared some of the highlights from the survey, which sought to learn what passengers really want.
“The highest pain points and stress points are queues at the airport and around the airport. So that is kind of the most frustrating issue that people are having. Then there is the fear of losing your bag, which is still very present and very important.”
With regard to the Latin America and the Caribbean region, the President of the company’s Americas Division, Shawn Gregor, said regional travellers have high expectations.
“What we found is that Latin American travellers want a seamless digital mobile travel experience, even more so than the rest of the world. So that was a big trend on the survey but Latin American travellers are asking for it even more and they expect digital solutions to reduce their processing time at the airport and are looking for real-time journey updates.”
Mr. Lavorel said the survey showed that passengers really want a simpler, faster, more sustainable and technology-driven form of travel.
