Nearly half of Asia Pacific travellers would pay for WiFi on planes

http://www.thailand4.com/.life/2013-05-17/b5a26c3e3430baa16824686b2d6aad40/

Travel and Lifestyle Press Releases Friday May 17, 2013

Bangkok–17 May–Grayling Thailand

Nearly half of Asia Pacific travellers would pay for WiFi on planes

In-flight connectivity tops the list of most wanted features

In-flight WiFi has topped the list of passengers’ most-wanted in-flight entertainment in new research conducted by leading global travel search site Skyscanner, with 47% of passengers prepared to pay to access the internet at 30,000 feet.

As a sign of today’s increasingly digital times, less than a third (32.4%) of the 5000 respondentssaid they would pay for newspapers or magazinesonboard.

With some airlines such as Emirates now offering live TV onboard, travellers were also asked if they would be prepared to pay for such a service.

While 36% said they would pay to access live television, movies were more popular with 47% stating they’d part with cash to watch their favourite film. Video games also proved popular with a quarter of passengers prepared to pay extra to keep themselves entertained with in-flight consoles.

When it comes to in-flight comfort, 62% would pay for extra legroom given the option while over half (56%) would pay to sit in a two-person row of seats.

Skyscanner spokesman Sam Poullain said “We’re not surprised to see that WiFi is in such high demand with travellers, as this reinforces some of our recent research on the social media habits of travellers, many of whom aim to stay connected every day when they go away. “

“It’s clear that on the comfort front, additional legroom is also still in demand and many people will choose to pay extra for this to improve their in-flight experience,” added Mr Poullain.

Delving deeper into the research,the findings show that women are prepared to pay more in almost every category – except food. As expected, younger travellers were keener to pay for additional items across the board than their older counterparts. WiFi, movies, and extra legroom prove to be entertainment and comfort which travellers are willing to pay while on broad.

Entertainment/Comfort on Flight   Result

Extra legroom                     62%

Two-person row of seats           56%

WiFi                             47%

Movies                           47%

Live TV                           36%