Frequent travellers were asked the following questions and their answers would make airlines tremble

• According to the CAPA India report, less than 10% of travellers were interested in travelling immediately after international flights resumed.
• More than 50% of CAPA’s traveller sentiment tracker respondents said that they are definitely not going to book tickets even after a discount and would rather wait until COVID is over.
• According to CAPA, the domestic traffic in the first half of FY2021 is expected to reach just about 15-20 million passengers, compared with 68 million in the same period last year.

The spread of novel coronavirus has already created much pessimism around the travel industry, and the aviation sector is one of the worst-hit. According to the DGCA, the domestic air traffic was down 83.50 % in the month of June compared to the same time last year, as people avoided unessential travel in the past few months.

The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation’s (CAPA) latest traveller sentiment tracker indicates that the second quarter is likely to be similar for the aviation sector.

Here are few of the findings from the CAPA’s frequent travellers survey

• How long after international flights resume are you likely to travel overseas for leisure, business or to visit friends and relatives?
  

According to the CAPA India report, less than 10% of the travellers were interested in travelling immediately after international flights resumed. However, a larger portion of people were reluctant to travel even for business for at least the next 12 months after the international operation begins.

• Which will be the most important criteria that will influence the selection of your next overseas holiday destination?
  

While the price may be a factor stimulating travel decisions, a significant number of people who participated in the survey were more worried about the risk of contracting COVID at the destination.

• Will discounted travel encourage you to travel?
  

More than 50% of CAPA’s traveller sentiment tracker respondents said that they are definitely not going to book tickets even after a discount and would rather wait until COVID is over. However, 30-35% respondents said they would give it a second thought maybe after six months.

“This is further confirmed by the fact that respondents indicated that discounts would be unlikely to entice them to travel soon,” the report said.

According to CAPA, the domestic traffic in the first half of FY2021 is expected to reach just about 15-20 million passengers, compared with 68 million in the same period last year.

The outlook for the third-quarter will depend upon how fast the infection curve can be flattened so that consumer confidence is restored, the report said. It further added that this is largely because the traffic between metros has been impacted more significantly than non-metro traffic, primarily as metros have seen the largest outbreaks of the disease and are considered to be higher risk.

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