2013 AIR TRANSPORT INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
FOREWORD This 8th passenger survey co-sponsored by Air Transport World and SITA, underlines how technology has become a normal and well appreciated part of many people s travel experience. Taking center stage is consumer mobile innovation. It promises to reshape the entire passenger journey by enhancing the convenience and scope of self-service and giving access to a wider and richer set of information and capabilities. Francesco Violante CEO, SITA Driving the change is the rapid adoption of smart phone technology. Among passengers interviewed for the survey smart phone penetration has reached 76%. That opens up the world of apps to most travelers and with it new empowerment possibilities that will make the mobile phone a critical travel companion. Karen Walker EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ATW Today, passengers place the most value of their mobile on obtaining travel related information. For those travelers that want it, mobile phones provide access to unprecedented levels of insight while on the move. In particular the convenience of having flight status updates close to hand is highly rated with 58% of passengers stating it as a priority service. Nevertheless, our survey also shows that passengers still have some reservations. While some functionality is seeing good levels of adoption there is still reluctance in some areas for passengers to use their mobile phone to replace their existing behavior. SITA has been running a passenger survey since 2006. In that time technology use has grown to have a wider influence on travel behavior beyond self-service processing. To reflect this, the survey has been renamed The Passenger IT Trends Survey. Carried out at six major international airports in key regions of the world, the survey represents passenger opinions about technology used throughout their journey. It provides valuable insights for future IT strategic thinking and trends across the air transport industry. 2
CONTENTS Technology makes traveling easier 4 Explosive growth of smartphones and mobile services 5 Clear priorities for mobile self-service 6 Usability is the number one concern 7 Do passengers want m-commerce? 8 Will passengers use mobile for access? 9 Do passengers want information on the move? 10 Methodology 11 3
TECHNOLOGY MAKES TRAVELING EASIER 90+% OF PASSENGERS THINK TECHNOLOGY HELPS WHEN TRAVELLING Passengers like technology Passengers have come to value the convenience and timesaving aspect of technology. There are no queues online, so travel tasks such as buying a ticket and check-in have been enthusiastically embraced by time-conscious travelers. In this year s survey 69% of respondents booked their travel through a website and 20% used a kiosk for check-in on the day of travel. These figures are in line with the levels seen in last year s survey, suggesting the first wave of self-service technology is a firmly established part of the travel experience. Mobile self-service will have a major impact The next self-service wave will focus on the deeper integration of mobile into travel. However, the survey indicates adoption will be gradual with not all mobile innovation embraced equally. For now, going online using a desktop PC remains the preferred choice for completing travel tasks. Nonetheless, in our survey the majority of travelers questioned thought using their mobile phone for storing boarding passes, performing check-in and receiving flight status updates could be a definite improvement. Other areas, such as mobile booking, could also eventually become widely adopted. However today passengers consider ticket purchasing via their mobile a useful option, but not their first choice. The clear message is that to persuade people to change their travel habits mobile services will need to deliver additional value over existing options. Passengers attitude towards technology in travel 4
EXPLOSIVE GROWTH OF SMARTPHONES AND MOBILE SERVICES 76% OF SURVEYED PASSENGERS WERE CARRYING A SMARTPHONE Smartphones could be the catalyst Demographics will slowly play its part in technology adoption for travel as today s young get older. But a much faster and bigger change agent is going to be the smartphone. Of the travelers questioned for the survey, 76% were carrying a smartphone, a much higher penetration than among the population at large. Google reports global smartphone penetration of just over 40% in 2013, and over 50% in some countries, such as the United States and the UK. This higher level of penetration among travelers can form the basis for a much richer travel experience for passengers giving them an unprecedented involvement in decisionmaking regarding all aspects of their journey. Airlines are investing in a mobile future Airlines have invested heavily to deliver that richer experience. The majority of airlines now offer a range of mobile services that goes beyond basic texting of flight information. Today around 60% of airlines offer check-in and ticket booking via mobiles, a significant jump in the last three years. By 2016, almost all airlines - nine out of 10 - will offer this functionality.* *Airline IT Trends Survey 2013 Smartphone penetration and airline mobile adoption 5
CLEAR PRIORITIES FOR MOBILE SELF-SERVICE Information is the top priority Getting information is the most highly-valued mobile service for the majority of passengers surveyed. But they also attach differing levels of importance to other mobile services. Of those least valued, around 70% passengers are still to be fully convinced of the benefits of their mobile for commercial activities, while only 36% of passengers would definitely use mobile check-in. Some passengers still need to be convinced Despite the high smartphone penetration among travelers, some passengers do not yet clearly see the advantages mobile services will bring. Between 20-30% of passengers surveyed are still undecided, stating only that they may use mobile services. Many passengers have yet to make the transition to mobile for travel services and actual usage of mobile servcies for access and commerce such as check-in and booking remains below 5%, despite the increase in recent years. Passengers priorities for mobile services 6
USABILITY IS THE NUMBER ONE CONCERN 78% OF PASSENGERS CITE USABILITY AS THE NO. 1 CONCERN WHEN USING THEIR PHONE FOR TRAVEL The overwhelming majority of passengers 78% - cite usability concerns and limitations of the device as the potential reason for not using mobile for a particular aspect of travel. Out of these, the largest number of passengers (31%) lack confidence in the phone working, while others (27%) felt that either the app itself or the travel arrangements were too complicated. A further 18% of passengers considered their mobile did not offer any advantage over existing available options. Usability is key to speed up adoption Improving usability is critical if passengers are to be convinced about the benefits of mobile services for travel. Usability means making tasks simpler, faster and more convenient than the traditional channels. Today, many mobile apps just copy the website functionality rather than taking advantage of a smartphones unique capabilities, such as calendar integration, location sensing, and alert notifications. Concerns when using smartphones for travel 7
DO PASSENGERS WANT M-COMMERCE? ONLY 37% OF PASSENGERS WOULD DEFINITELY PURCHASE TICKETS ON SMARTPHONES Attitude towards buying tickets on smartphones Online is the booking channel of choice M-commerce is seen as the new frontier in retailing and airlines have high hopes of following that lead in travel. However, the evidence from the survey indicates passengers much prefer to make travel purchases from a desktop than from a mobile. Although they see the mobile as a useful research tool. In fact, 88% of passengers interviewed said they would search on mobiles devices, but prefer to purchase via a desktop PC. Such is the convenience of online shopping that 96% of respondents would prefer to buy airline tickets from a website using a PC, compared to 66% who would use a physical shop. However, as a signpost to the future, passengers would rather buy travel on a mobile or tablet than go into a physical shop. Mobile gaining in popularity Attitude towards buying services Although the website is the preferred channel to purchase tickets, 70% of passengers would buy tickets via a mobile phone if available, up from 63% last year. It shows the increasing power of mobile to change consumer behavior. This is likely to be most evident for ancillary sales or location-based shopping where the convenience and impulse factor can be much higher. Purchasing additional travel services via a smartphone is considered more important than ticket purchases to the majority of travelers surveyed. Of the passenger s interviewed, 47% would definitely make booking changes on their mobile. While 39% would definitely buy ancillary services and only 37% would definitely purchase the flight ticket using a mobile. Improving the usability provides an opportunity for airlines to turn those passengers undecided or reluctant to buy travel services on mobiles, into avid mobile shoppers of the future. 8
WILL PASSENGERS USE MOBILE FOR ACCESS? Mobile is not the first choice, yet? Being able to use the mobile phone for essential tasks such as performing check-in or storing boarding passes is something passengers want and usage is steadily rising. But it is going to take time to build the trust for mobile to become a critical tool for travel. Of those interviewed, 73% of passengers would definitely use a PC to check-in, while less than half that figure 36% - indicated they would definitely use mobile. Printed boarding passes from airport kiosks remains the method of choice for the vast majority with 82% of those interviewed rating it their first option against 66% who would use a mobile boarding pass. The figures indicate that currently mobile is not the passengers first choice channel to perform those tasks. In addition to making travel apps more usable, mobile adoption by passengers could be increased through the introduction of new self-service functionality, such as selfprinted bag-tags and automatic bag-drop solutions. E-passports not anytime soon With passengers yet to fully embrace mobile phones as an essential travel tool it is not surprising that using them to store sensitive information, such as e-passports and payment cards is currently a step too far for the majority of passengers. Seven out of 10 passengers are cautious about using their mobile to replace their physical passport or using it to make payments. Attitude towards mobile boarding and check-in Keeping sensitive information on mobiles 57% 52% 23% 25% 43% 23% 73% 19% 53% 29% 36% 29% 9
DO PASSENGERS WANT INFORMATION ON THE MOVE? 83% WANT TO HAVE FLIGHT STATUS UPDATES ON MOBILES Staying informed while in transit Mobile phones can provide unprecedented levels of communication and contact while in transit. The survey indicates that staying informed, in particular, is highly valued by passengers. However, despite many airports and airlines providing mobile apps, the most popular way of receiving flight status information is by text messaging. 32% of passengers regularly receive updates via SMS compared to 12% via mobile apps. Part of the reason is apps require the passenger to have a smartphone while text works on any mobile. But passengers may also prefer the information pushed to them through alerts rather than having to pull it themselves. Staying connected while in-flight According to respondents the no. 1 use of the mobile phone in traveling is to relax during the flight. 85% of passengers interviewed wanted to use tablets or phones to access games or movies. But staying connected with access to email was also rated a high priority. M-commerce remains a low priority for passengers, even in-flight, whether it is to order meals, receive promotions, or purchase onboard duty free. Attitude towards mobile services on-board Regular usage of flight status on mobiles 10
METHODOLOGY Background The 8th annual SITA-ATW Passenger IT Trends Survey was conducted in April-May 2013 at six major international airports representing key world regions. The six airports are: Abu Dhabi International Airport Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Beijing Capital International Airport Frankfurt Airport Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai GRU Airport Respondents profile The sample is representative of the demographic and airline mix of each airport. Overall combined results are calculated as a weighted average, taking into account the relative passenger traffic of each airport, for a total of over 299 million passengers traveling annually through the six airports. The weighted average does not represent a worldwide weighted average. Results do not reflect the services offered by any individual airport or any specific airline, as close to 40% of interviewed passengers were in transit. The survey included 2,489 passengers from more than 70 countries. Compared to previous years a higher percentage of business travelers was encountered at all locations, and hence a higher percentage of frequent flyers. Age Group 18 24 25 34 35 44 45 54 55+ 12% 12% 19% 25% 32% Frequent Flyer (10+ Trips Per Year) No Yes 40% 60% Purpose of Trip Business Leisure 39% 61% Flight Duration Long Haul >5 hours Medium Haul 2 5 Hours Short Haul <2 hours 22% 28% 50% 11
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