Effects of airline itinerary attributes and air passenger characteristics on air itinerary choice: An exploratory analysis using revealed preference data

Abstract

Indian civil aviation being a service-oriented industry demands prioritizing consumer interests. To accurately gauge consumer interests, it is crucial to consider the behavioural characteristics of passengers. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the passenger characteristics and itinerary attributes in the selection of itinerary among various itinerary types available in the Indian domestic aviation market. This study uses a revealed preference-based questionnaire survey to collect the socio-economic and itinerary specific attributes of passengers to study airline itinerary choice. The results from exploratory data analysis and multinomial logistic regression reveal that there is a significant influence of trip purpose (business, leisure and visiting friends and relatives), booking method, time of day, route category etc., on airline itinerary choice of passengers. We found that flyers residing in the South Zone opt mostly for direct and connected itineraries, North and East Zone flyers prefer nonstop itineraries and Central Zone flyers prefer more connected itineraries among the available itinerary types. In addition, the effects of route category indicated that flyers traveling on Category 1 and 2 routes (Appendix 1) are more likely to opt for nonstop and direct itineraries, while route Category 2A flyers prefer nonstop itineraries and flyers traveling on Category 3 routes are less likely to choose a nonstop itinerary. Positive effects of travel planning, seating comfort, baggage, time flexibility and airline itinerary choice are also noted. The insights provided by the study can be utilized by airlines and airport operators for efficient planning of the airline itineraries in the country.