‘67% flyers feel air travel is safest’

Vinod Kannan, Chief Commercial Officer, Vistara, recently shared results of their latest survey, revealing that at least two out of three (almost 67 per cent) customers believe that flying is the safest way to travel from one place to another. With business picking up, Vistara hopes to operate its complete pre-COVID domestic fleet by April 2021.

Vinod Kannan shares that while 67 per cent customers feel flying is the safest mode of travel today, only 13 per cent disagree. The survey titled ‘Flyer behaviour and trends in the times of COVID-19’ also reveals that customers’ confidence to fly is increasing, with lesser fear of exposure during the journey or fellow Pax not following protocols.

This was the second Vistara survey that gauged passengers’ sentiments about flying in current times. The first one was released in June 2020. The survey also highlighted that 63 per cent of respondents were hopeful of taking their next flight by February 2021.

The fear of flying is reducing, Kannan shared, adding that according to their first survey, 32 per cent of respondents said that they do not fear exposure on-board an aircraft. However, in the second survey, the number increased to 49 per cent.

Domestic is near, international not too far

Revealing that domestic travel will rule the roost, the survey stated that almost 84 per cent of Vistara flyers would travel within India on their next flight. On the other hand, only 16 per cent of customers of the airline shared that they would travel international. In fact, 26 per cent of Business Class passengers said that their next flight would be outside the country. By August 2021, customers would like to take an international flight, and the top five destinations on their list are Singapore, Dubai, US, UK and Thailand. “We have been seeing a steady rise in demand for domestic travel since the resumption of operations in May 2020, and the increased passenger confidence further makes us hopeful of better times to return soon,” Kannan said.

VFR traffic up during festivals

The survey highlighted a rise in the number of people visiting friends and relatives starting October 2020. There was also a spike seen in leisure travel booked for 2021. It indicated that travelling by air for business and returning to a place of work/home continues to be the main purpose of travel in the last few weeks for nearly 45 per cent of the respondents.The survey further stated that visiting friends and relatives is expected to rise during the festive season, a trend that will continue through February 2021 for an average of 25 per cent of the respondents.

High on optimism

Kannan also shared that they are expecting to operate 100 per cent of Vistara’s pre-COVID domestic passenger flights by April next year. Right now, they have around 55 per cent of their pre-COVID scheduled domestic passenger services. “I think, we will hit pre-COVID levels in terms of capacity alone somewhere in March or April of 2021. Again, it is going to be a function of how things progress through Diwali and the year-end period because that is going to be quite material,” he stressed.