AirAsia Survey Predicts Positive Air-Travel Intent

AirAsia India unleashed the findings of its recently conducted study to identify the ‘Travel Intent’ among the Indian consumers. The airline conducted a survey of its customers who flew in the last 24 months to understand their travel purpose and preferences - pre and post Covid, and their travel intent going forward.

The behavioural data collected states that ‘while the demand has been slowly and steadily recovering post-Covid lockdown, it is encouraging to see  the optimism for travel over the next 3 months - 50% of surveyed respondents stated that they definitely planned to travel over the next 3 months and another 36% indicating that they are considering travelling.’

The airline also identified that ‘while business travel demand remains significantly impacted, VFR (Visiting Friends & Relatives) including travelling to/from hometowns contributed to over 2/3rds of travel in the months post the lockdown.’

The study further established that ‘the massive reduction in Leisure / Holiday travel during and immediately after the lockdown resulted in significant pent up demand, especially among younger demographics who have exhibited more resilience and optimism about travelling in the current festive season. The travel intent suggests the contribution of holiday traffic to increase notably in the next three months compared to the previous few months post the covid-lockdown.’

The survey also indicates a change in the demographic mix of travellers with the age group between 18-29 years increasing its share.

Whether they have flown post-Covid or not, people rate taking a flight as less of a Covid risk than most activities including eating out or visiting a mail, with only ordering in, visiting close friends/family or visiting their local store considered safer. According to the survey, ‘the perception of risk is even lower for people who have actually flown post-Covid vs. those who have not yet experienced post-Covid flying.’ This is also validated by the high NPS scores AirAsia India has observed on the Covid-protection measures implemented on-ground as well as in-flight.

To sum up, the survey indicates that, ‘for those who intend to travel, flights and personal vehicles have increased as preferred modes of transport, gaining share from other modes of transport, especially train travel.’