The 5th annual SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service survey of the world's leading airports reveals that India's air travellers lead the world in using airline websites for carbon emissions offsetting with 44 per cent of survey respondents at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) claiming to do so. By comparison, only six per cent did so among those surveyed at Frankfurt. 

Self-service check-in rates are also high among passengers interviewed in Mumbai with 36 per cent of surveyed passengers using it on the day. But usage could be higher among those who checked in at a counter as 67 per cent did so because they had a bag to check-in and not all airlines allow online check-in for these passengers. 

Baggage is regarded as a challenge even among the 74 per cent of respondents who did check-in online and 83 per cent of Mumbai respondents are enthusiastic about free airport bag drop. At the same time 76 per cent have a positive attitude towards using baggage claim kiosks. Indian travellers have a marked preference for online check-in compared to kiosk check-in.

Indian travellers are also keen to see automation introduced at other points along the passenger journey. At least 54 per cent would prefer an electronic boarding pass to a paper one compared to 35 per cent globally. There is also considerable support for automated border control and security processing (73 per cent) and a majority would also use automatic boarding gates.

Maneesh Jaikrishna, Director for India, SITA said, “Passengers in Mumbai are sophisticated in how they manage their travel plans and this is borne out by their strong embrace of self-service technology. We expect to see further growth in the use of airline websites to book hotels, rent cars, purchase travel insurance and other ancillary services. Indian travellers already see the potential of mobile phones as travel accessories and we expect a significant rise in demand for mobile check-in and SMS notifications in the coming years as well as for airline ticket purchasing, modifying bookings to mention a few.”

The 5th annual SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey is an in-depth look at the attitudes and habits of a representative sample of the 287.6 million passengers who use seven leading international airports. The survey also included: Beijing International Airport; Frankfurt; Hartsfield-Jackson, Atlanta; Moscow Domodedovo; OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg; and Sao Paulo Guarulhos, Brazil. 

The survey data is extracted from interviews with 2,490 passengers travelling on 106 airlines, conducted at the departure gates earlier this year. Main nationalities interviewed were American, 17 per cent; Indian, 12 per cent; Chinese, 12 per cent; Brazilian, 11 per cent; German, eight per cent; South African, eight per cent; Russian, seven per cent; and others, 25 per cent.