Air passengers awaiting return to normalcy, leisure travel: Survey

Air passengers are "eagerly" awaiting the return to normalcy of flight operations and are looking forward to international leisure travel, a survey by Mumbai airport operator MIAL has claimed.

An overwhelming majority of the people covered under the survey, which was carried out on 1,386 passengers at the Mumbai International Airport, also found air travel as the "most reliable mode of transport, given the current pandemic".

"GVK-led Mumbai International Airport undertook a 'Restart Feedback Survey' post the resumption of flight operations... the survey conducted with 1,386 passengers reveals that passengers are eagerly awaiting the return to normalcy of flight operations and are looking forward to international leisure travel," Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said in a release.

Furthermore, passengers are becoming comfortable with air travel in the new normal as 98.4 per cent of passengers flying in and out of the Mumbai airport found the airport to be safer than bus or train stations, it said.

Another 99.6 per cent of the passengers covered under the survey were of the opinion that air travel is safer compared to other modes of transports in times of a pandemic, MIAL said.

Devised to understand passenger sentiments - their apprehension and expectation towards air travel during this unprecedented period, the survey displayed a change in the purpose of travel for passengers, with business travel gaining momentum, it said.

The study conducted has shown a radical shift post two months of domestic flight operations where the airport identified 54.7 per cent passengers revealing that they are likely to travel for work or business purpose as compared to the 43.3 per of passengers who were voyaging back to their homes, MIAL said in the release.