Flyers worldwide want expanded self-service kiosk offerings: Survey

Flyers worldwide want expanded self-service kiosk offerings: Survey
October 5, 2010

Flyers around the world would like to see their kiosk self-service options expanded, with 70 percent saying they would like automated security checks and boarding gates, according to a survey by SITA, an international specialist in air transport communications and IT solutions.

Two-thirds of survey respondents would like to use kiosks for other purposes besides checking-in, including booking/changing a flight; purchasing additional services (e.g. baggage fees, meals); printing bag tags; self-transfer; and claiming delayed baggage.

The actual usage rates of kiosk check-in is at 71 percent, SITA found.

The 5th annual SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey is a representative sample of the 287.6 million passengers who use seven leading international airports. It includes previous survey participants — Hartsfield-Jackson, Atlanta; Mumbai International; Moscow Domodedovo; Sao Paulo Guarulhos, Brazil; and OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg — and adds two airports: China's Beijing International Airport which served 65.3 million passengers last year and Germany's busiest airport, Frankfurt, which had 50.9 million passengers.

Overall, on the day of the survey 74 percent of interviewed passengers booked their flights online when making their own arrangements.

Close to half of the survey respondents who checked in at a desk rather than online or through a kiosk, did so because of the need to check in a bag. About 70 percent of interviewed passengers would tag their own bag if they could, and about 75 percent would be interested in off-airport bag drop-off — but only a third would be willing to pay for such a service.

"Passengers are showing an increasing willingness to use self-service options when available, including for security and border control, as well as boarding. Two-thirds of respondents would use kiosks for booking/changing flights, printing bag tags, self-transfer and claiming delayed bags," said Cathy Stam, SITA portfolio marketing director.

At 3 percent, the percentage of passengers who had used mobile phone check-in on the day of the survey remained the same as in the 2009 survey, but the percentage who stated they had used mobile phone check-in in the past grew from 14 percent to 23 percent. Overall, 58 percent of passengers are interested in using mobile check-in.

The survey data is extracted from interviews with 2,490 passengers traveling on 106 airlines, conducted at the departure gates earlier this year. Main nationalities interviewed were American, 17 percent; Indian, 12 percent; Chinese, 12 percent; Brazilian, 11 percent; German, 8 percent; others, 23 percent.