UAE travellers moving towards no-frills carriers - study

UAE travellers are moving away from traditional airlines to no-frills carriers, a new study has revealed.

A poll conducted by YouGov, an international internet-based market research firm revealed that overall 61% of travellers say that they have flown on a low cost airlines in the last year.

According to a media release, the majority (75%) of these expect to be flying with them more frequently over the next year. Even for those who haven't used a low cost airline in the last year, almost half, or 46% say that they are likely to do so in the coming year.

The findings emerged from an online survey of 700 travellers, conducted in June 2009.

The YouGov poll results showed that just over a third (36%) say that they would use budget carriers to get the best price; a quarter are looking for a value (for money) proposition whilst a fifth say it is so they can make more trips with in their budget.

“Our travel tracker study has shown that whilst travel budgets have been reduced in recent months, travel volumes remain fairly stable and the way the issue has been resolved is by trading down; Business class use has been reducing significantly. This is a great opportunity for LCC's to thrive, the timing of the launch of flydubai fits perfectly with the current economic situation,” said Jane Wilson, director, travel and tourism research at YouGov .

Despite the fact that Westerners travel the most (averaging four leisure and over three business trips per annum) they are by far the least likely to have used a low cost carrier; only 14% say they have flown one for leisure in the least year, compared to an average of 57% across all nationalities, the media release said.

They also remain the most resistant to using them in the future with under a third (31%) saying they would be (much or a little) more likely to fly with a no-fills airline in the next year. This compares to 75% of ex-pat Arab nationals and over half of Emiratis (56%) and Asians (60%), the study revealed.

“It may be that Westerners reluctance to fly on a no-frills airline will change with the advent of the recently launched Flydubai. However their resistance may also be due to the length of distance they travel, as low cost airlines are traditionally popular for short-haul,” continued Wilson.

Those resident in Sharjah, the hub of Air Arabia and until recently the only low cost airline based in the UAE, are more likely to have flown with a low cost airline for leisure (62% compared to just over half in Abu Dhabi and Dubai) and fly almost twice as frequently for business (1.36 trips) compared to those in Abu Dhabi (0.62 trips), the YouGov poll showed.

In what some describe as the worst economic situation since the Great Depression, the study suggests that globetrotters are more cautious about spending. Figures issued by the International Air Transport show that global passenger traffic was down 9.3 percent in May compared to the same month last year.

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