Undeterred by War, Disease Or Terrorism

Americans are planning more trips overseas this year, despite conflicts and turmoil in Iraq and North Korea, the Al Qaeda threat, cancellations of some international flights and SARS. However, their trust in airport security is lukewarm. A survey of 400 international travelers in the US by 1stAir also found that when traveling abroad, Americans prefer international flag carriers to US carriers.

"Neither terrorism, nor contagious disease nor war are deterring Americans from flying overseas for business or leisure," said Robert Laney, president, 1stAir, a provider of first class and business class international travel at 30-50% fare reductions. "Given the improvement in the economy, international travel should have a solid comeback in 2004."

Among the key findings from the survey:

• Increase in travel overseas for business and pleasure

Nearly half of international travelers surveyed (46.8%) are traveling overseas for business more than they did at the same time last year. More than half (65%) are traveling overseas for leisure more than they did at the same time last year.

• SARS and Al Qaeda are ongoing concerns of international flyers

Despite international travel growth, SARS is impacting overseas plans, cited by nearly half (45.9%) as an event affecting their decision to travel; the second greatest event affecting travel overseas is the Al Qaeda threat, cited by 31.3%.

• Trust in airport security is moderate

While more than half (66%) of those surveyed define their trust in airport security in the United States as "moderate", only 15.3% label their trust as "great". There is improvement with the level of trust in airports overseas - more than one-quarter (26.6%) say their level of trust in airport security in Great Britain is "great" while one third (33%) say their level of trust in airport security in Singapore is "great".

Preference for International Flag Carriers: When traveling internationally, nearly two-thirds (62.6%) prefer international flag carriers versus US carriers, and one-quarter (26.6%) say there are airlines they avoid due to security concerns.

• Indifference to Cancellation of British Airways and Air France Flights

Half of those surveyed (54.7%) say the cancellation of some British Airways and Air France flights have had no impact on their feeling about air travel security, and 89.2% said the cancellations have not caused them to delay or rearrange their travel plans.

• Reduced international fares would increase travel

International flyers surveyed prefer business class to economy class (54.7% vs. 29.1%) when flying for business and economy class to business class (52.2% vs. 33%) when flying for leisure. If the cost for first or business class fares were reduced by 20-30%, an overwhelming majority (85.2%) said they would fly internationally more frequently.

1stAir conducted the email survey between 1/00/04 and 1/20/04.

FMI: http://1st-air.com.sg/world