A new report released by Germany-based secondary market research firm yStats.com, “Global Online Airline Booking Market 2022” highlights the key trends in the online flight booking market as well as the most preferred airline and flight booking websites. The publication also includes projections of future growth of the online travel and flight booking market.
The overall online travel booking experience is still not optimal worldwide
The post-pandemic surge in overall travel has led to gradual growth of the online air travel revenues, with revenues experiencing a single-digit CAGR between 2020 and 2021, as revealed by the new yStats.com report. Although there has been a shift from offline to online booking platforms, consumer expectations with regards to user-friendly experiences remain to be fulfilled. According to a global survey, close to half of the respondents want to book flights and other travel essentials through a single website. But around one third of the respondents still find comparing offers difficult and time consuming when searching and booking flights online. Thus, a certain percentage of respondents do not enjoy booking trips and flights online. It therefore comes as no surprise that airlines experience the second-highest cart abandonment rate globally among selected industries. The percentage of users abandoning their carts when booking via specific online travel websites is also high.
Countries are on the way to recovery in air travel demand
North America remains the region with the largest estimated air travel net profits in 2022, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific, finds new yStats.com report. Full recovery of the air travel demand in North America is expected in 2022, with other regions in the world estimated to all reach at least over 70% of pre-pandemic air travel levels. Despite such a recovery, some countries in Asia-Pacific are not on the same growth trajectory as others. In China, for example, the strict travel restrictions and uneven vaccine rollout have caused the country’s recovery to lag. The Russia-Ukraine war is also still disrupting the air travel in Europe. Nevertheless, all regions are expected to recover in the long run. The air travel demand in Europe is still estimated to reach a high double-digit percentage of pre-pandemic levels.
Flyers across the world are seen considering sustainability of airline travel
Since 2020, the aviation industry has seen a decrease in CO2 emissions, but to keep that trend up the industry needs to implement new sustainability measures. According to a survey cited in the new yStats.com report, respondents from over three quarters of surveyed countries stated air travel sustainability to be their biggest concerns when it comes to air travel. But the willingness to pay more for carbon-neutral flights varies greatly among countries. Close to three quarters of travelers from Spain are ready to increase air travel spending for reduced CO2 emissions, whereas the share of Indian and Japanese travelers willing to do the same is relatively small.
