Airline services of the future need to be more sustainable, less stressful, provide more frequencies and continue to offer face-to-face interaction despite the social media revolution.
These are key conclusions drawn from exhaustive two-year research involving more than 1.75 million travellers released today by Airbus ahead of next week’s Farnborough International Air Show.
It found that:
• 63% of people worldwide say they will fly more by 2050
• 60% do not think social media will replace the need to see people face-to-face
• 96% believe aircraft will need to be more sustainable or ‘eco-efficient’
• Almost 40% feel air travel is increasingly stressful
The study, which spells out what passengers want from flying in the future, also found:
• 86% of people think less fuel burn is key and 85% want a reduction in carbon emissions
• 66% want quieter aircraft and 65% want aircraft which are fully recyclable
The aircraft manufacturer’s engineering executive vice president Charles Champion said: “Aviation is the real World Wide Web. The results of the survey show that there is nothing better than face to face contact.
“The world is woven together by a web of flights that creates ever-expanding social and economic networks: 57 million jobs, 35% of world trade, and $2.2 trillion in global GDP.”
But he as more people fly more often, the greater their expectations will be for the “end-to-end passenger experience.”
The Airbus consultation highlights a predictable list of concerns such as queues at passport control; slow check-in and baggage collection; sitting on the tarmac; and circling in holding patterns around airports.
“In London, for example, we’ve seen concern about queues at airports and people are understandably not happy about it,” Champion said.
“But the reality is those capacity constraints are a sign of things to come unless the industry can work together to cut delays, and with aviation set to double in the next 15 years, that’s what we’re looking at.”
He added: “It’s clear that people are really excited about the future of sustainable flight and we want them to be part of shaping that future.”