THE recently published Inmarsat APAC Passenger Experience Survey 2022 highlights some interesting changes in consumer behaviour when it comes to staying connected while flying. The research was conducted by Censuswide (on behalf of Inmarsat) between August and September 2022. It surveyed a total of 11,231 respondents who travelled by air in the past year in 10 countries worldwide – UK, Brazil, Germany, UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, India, Australia, Singapore, and the USA.
The terms “endemic traveller” and “new world traveller” aren’t just buzzwords – they actually emphasise a significant change in consumer behaviour pre-and-post-pandemic. According to the survey, 75% of flyers across the APAC region are happy about flying again – a giant leap from last year’s figure of just a measly 6%.
Zooming in on individual countries in APAC, India tops the confidence list at 88%. It’s a good sign for a country that’s preparing to supercharge its tourism efforts, as we highlighted in a couple of previous features:
- Preparing for the booming Indian market: An Interview with MakeMyTrip’s Rajesh Magow
- Why India travel needs to thank Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) for its growth
Participants in Australia are also happy to be in the air again, coming in second at 79%. Singapore is third on the list at 79%, followed by South Korea at 53%.
Those aren’t the only then-and-now stats with noteworthy findings.
Of the 4,000 APAC passengers surveyed, 74% of participants in the Inmarsat APAC Passenger Experience Survey 2022 say it’s important to have good Wi-Fi in the air. This figure has almost doubled (it stood at 39% this time last year) in 12 months.
Maybe you’ll need to jog our memory, but was inflight Wi-Fi this important a few years ago? In fact, wasn’t it a trend to download your choice of content – music, movies, e-books – to prepare for the lack of internet for a few hours and keep you entertained during the flight?
Clearly that’s not the case anymore.
Additionally, 78% of APAC flyers have accessed inflight Wi-Fi when it’s been available. 83% of passengers say it enhances the experience to such a degree that they would rebook with the same airline in future. This is a slight increase from 78% in the previous year.
With the line between work, life, and play becoming increasingly blurred due to flexible work arrangements, it makes sense that more people want to stay connected all the time… even when flying.
Here’s how the Passenger Experience Survey 2022 quantifies this segment:
- 36% of flyers want to work while flying.
- 96% of flyers prefer to use their own personal devices while in the sky.
So, clearly passengers want to stay connected to complete pressing business matters and urgent work tasks, 30,000ft in the air, right?
Well, not really.
*cue Netflix tu-dum intro*
Watching movies and TV shows was the most popular onboard activity for passengers who were connected. 32% indicated they would pay more to access exclusive inflight entertainment content while flying. The survey also indicated that 28% would pay more for both unlimited downloads and social media usage.
The most telling shift in consumer behaviour is outlined by the fact that travellers are willing to sacrifice certain “luxuries” and inflight services in exchange for better connectivity:
- 36% of respondents say they would be willing to view ads
- 32% said they would trade inflight alcoholic drinks for access to quality and consistent connectivity.
Even though passengers are willing to pay for better connectivity during their flights, cost is the single most prohibitive factor across all APAC markets – with Australian passengers feeling most strongly about it, at 56%.
80% of APAC passengers also believe that Wi-Fi should be free on long-haul flights. This sentiment was halved (49%) when it came to short-haul flights.
What’s your stance on inflight Wi-Fi, and would you pay more for better connectivity while on a flight?
*South Korea, India, Australia and Singapore are regarded as APAC passengers by Inmarsat.
