July 13th, 2023, Janice Fernandes
Travel in 2022 reached its highest level since the onset of the pandemic, and there remains a significant desire among Britons to travel in 2023. But are travellers concerned about potential airport strikes and prolonged queues?
In this article, with data from YouGov Surveys: Serviced, we see if British travellers are being pre-emptively cautious when making travel plans for this year and what steps they are willing to take to avoid any travel day chaos.
A few days ago, Heathrow airport security staff called off their strike amid a pay deal, but travellers remain concerned. While fewer than one in ten Britons say they experienced airport strikes last year (9%), polling data shows that over half of them are anticipating airport strikes this year (58%).
Nearly a third of British consumers are expecting to have to wait in queues for 30 minutes to an hour (32%) during peak summer travel months. Almost a quarter of travellers are anticipating the check-in and security lines to take them anything between one to two hours in summer season time (23%).
The survey also looks into measures that travellers might adopt if faced with airport strikes, through the lens of business and leisure travellers separately. Nearly a third of business travellers – defined those who travel at least once in six months – are likely to plan their trips around strike dates (32%). Around a quarter of business travellers would arrive early to avoid queues (24%) and buy travel insurance (23%).
Among leisure travellers, arriving early at the airport to avoid queues (49%) is the most cited method to deal with issues that might arise out of airport strikes. More than two-fifths of leisure travellers (42%) will check strike dates online before planning trips.
Leisure travellers are also more likely than business travellers to buy travel insurance (30% vs 23%).
What leisure travellers are less likely to do when compared to business travellers is travel from a different airport (17% vs 26%), go by road or train to avoid flying (14% vs 23%), go to a different destination (8% vs. 16%) and only book flexible tickets (10% vs. 20%).
Around two in ten frequent travellers (21% business and 20% leisure) would book flights closer to their planned holiday date, rather than book in advance.
One in seven British leisure travellers (14%), and a slightly smaller share of business travellers, would also consider simply travelling less often if faced with the prospect of airport strikes.
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Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online on June 23-26, 2023, with a nationally representative sample of 2,058 adults in Great Britain (aged 18+ years), using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by age, gender, education and region to be representative of all adults. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.
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