global passenger survey finds HIGHEST RATES of web

HYDERABAD, India (SANEPR.com) October 22, 2008 -- SITA, the specialist provider of IT solutions to airlines and airports, today said there is an overwhelming evidence from passengers surveyed at six of the world’s busiest airports across five continents, that self-service is fast becoming the norm for passengers from Mumbai to Atlanta.



The first ever global survey to look at use of Passenger Self-Service at a major Indian airport, Mumbai International, has found that Indian travellers use the web more than most for flight booking and check-in.



The SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey takes an in-depth look at the attitudes and habits of a representative sample of the 232 million passengers who use six of the world’s busiest airports across five continents: Hartsfield-Jackson, Atlanta; Mumbai International; Charles de Gaulle, Paris; Moscow Domodedovo; Sao Paulo Guarulhos, Brazil; and Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport.



The data is extracted from interviews with 2,143 passengers from over 60 countries travelling on over 100 airlines conducted at the departure gates earlier this year.



The use of self-service check-in at Mumbai (28.7%) rivals that of one of mainland Europe’s main gateways, Paris Charles De Gaulle (29.9%) but most significantly Mumbai leads all six airports when it comes to web check-in with a score of 19.3% just ahead of Atlanta, 18%.



The survey found that 61.7% of Mumbai passengers booked online which was ahead of all other surveyed airports except the world’s busiest, Atlanta, where 73.4% booked online. Only 19.7% of respondents interviewed at Mumbai Airport had never used online booking. Among those who did use online booking when it was available, 30% found it cheaper to book offline, 28% did not have a credit card; and 20% had no internet access. Ease of use and time saved were the main reasons cited for online booking.



Maneesh Jaikrishna, SITA Director for India and South Asia, said: “This survey confirms that self-service is here to stay with potential for truly explosive growth in emerging markets. It is remarkable that despite low internet penetration in India, already almost 20% of passengers at the country’s largest airport, Mumbai International, are using the web to check-in. The survey demonstrates that Indian travellers are among the most technologically savvy. Globally 93% of the passengers surveyed were carrying a mobile device.



“However, the major obstacles to self-service check-in adoption according to Mumbai passengers in the survey were lack of availability of self-service for the particular flight, 27.5%, and a further 24.7% could not tell if self-service check-in was available. The air transport community together with IT providers like SITA must work together to address these gaps in understanding and availability of self-service options.”



The survey, now in its third year but expanded to include airports across the globe, confirmed the travelling public’s desire for greater autonomy when it comes to making their own travel arrangements. For passengers in Mumbai, price, flight schedule, airline reputation and ability to book online were the four main considerations when making their travel arrangements.



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For further information contact:


Genesis-BM

Natasha Gupta

Tel: +91-124-404-4999

Mobile: +91-9899878182

Email: natasha.gupta@bm.com




Genesis-BM

Swati Mehrotra

Tel: +91-124-404-4999

Mobile: +91-9999026784

Email : swati.mehrotra@bm.com






Notes to Editors:
About SITA


SITA is the specialist provider of integrated IT business solutions and communication services for the world’s air transport industry. SITA manages complex communication solutions for its air transport, government and GDS customers over the world's most extensive communication network, complemented by consultancy in the design, deployment and integration of communication services. Its broad range of airline and airport IT applications and services includes airport operations and integrated baggage services, common use and desktop services, flight operations and air-to-ground communications and end-to-end airline distribution and fares services.



SITA has two main subsidiaries: OnAir, which is leading the race to bring in-flight mobile telephony to the market, and CHAMP Cargosystems, the world's only IT company solely dedicated to air cargo. SITA also operates two joint ventures providing services to the air transport community: Aviareto for aircraft asset management and CertiPath for secure electronic identity management. In addition, SITA sponsors .aero, the Internet top level domain reserved exclusively for aviation.



SITA covers 220 countries and territories and the head office is in Geneva, Switzerland. SITA had consolidated revenues of US$1.42 billion (€ 1.06 billion) in 2007. Further information can be found at www.sita.aero