Mavcom revealed an uptick in anticipation and expectation towards air travel, with 60 per cent of the 1,000 respondents looking forward to travelling domestically. – Photo by AFP
KUCHING (Oct 1): Some 60 per cent of respondents in a consumer survey conducted by the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) are looking forward to travelling domestically as they believe it is safer than going abroad due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Besides the high risk of exposure to Covid-19 when travelling internationally and the risk that they could pose their high-risk family members, the respondents also cited the lower cost of travel.
Mavcom said the survey, which was carried out by NielsenIQ, was conducted to understand the air travel expectations of consumers post Covid-19.
It said in a statement that the survey was carried out between February and May this year involving Malaysian respondents who had travelled at least once in the 12 months prior to the survey being conducted and are willing to travel by air in the next 12 months.
The survey revealed an uptick in anticipation and expectation towards air travel, with 60 per cent of the 1,000 respondents looking forward to travelling domestically.
The remaining 40 per cent of respondents expressed a preference for international travel.
Some 72 per cent of them were considering visiting destinations within Asia, with the top three countries being Japan, China and South Korea.
The outcome of the survey highlighted that key travel touchpoints within airports need to be redesigned to incorporate crowd control and physical distancing measures, routine sanitisation as well as contactless facilities.
The survey also highlighted that the adoption of digital technologies such as paperless travel documents and e-payment facilities, amongst others, were some of the expectations from consumers.
In addition, the survey underlined that the enforcement of Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) in creating a safe end-to-end travel experience is imperative in order to boost passenger confidence.
Mavcom executive chairman Datuk Seri Saripuddin Kasim said: “While Malaysian travellers are still cautious of the evolving circumstances related to the pandemic and are wary of contracting Covid-19, the outcome of this survey indicates that Malaysians
are looking forward to resuming air travel in both domestic and international sectors.”
He added: “With the findings of this study, the Commission hopes that the relevant industry players will continue with their efforts to be vigilant and make appropriate improvements at key travel touchpoints to further strengthen public confidence towards air travel as we move further into the reopening of our skies.”