As Vistara prepares to gradually ramp up operations, the airline rolled out a survey to ask its customers how they felt about flying again since partial operations resumed on 25 May 2020. Nearly 6,000 customers responded to Vistara’s survey, including Club Vistara members from all tier levels as well as non-members. Interestingly, 65% of the respondents expected to take their next Vistara flight within the next six months, and 57% of the Club Vistara elite (Platinum and Gold tier) members said they would fly as early as in the next one month. According to the survey, business travel emerged to be the biggest reason for them to travel, with 35% of the respondents indicating so, while 25% of the respondents expected to travel to visit friends and relatives.
Singapore, UK and Dubai – Top 3 Destinations for Customers’ Next International Travel
20% of the survey respondents planned to take their next flight to a destination outside of India. Singapore, the United Kingdom and Dubai were named most often as the destinations for the respondents’ next international trip, followed by the United States and Thailand.
Three of these five international destinations are already part of Vistara’s international network, which the airline plans to expand to other countries in and outside the continent as it inducts new narrow-body and wide-body aircraft.
Survey Reveals Passenger Confidence in Vistara
69% of the survey respondents rated Vistara 8/10 or higher in terms of their confidence in the airline for ensuring their health and safety while travelling. On deeper analysis, the average confidence rating was found to be slightly lower (7.5) among certain groups of respondents, e.g.: non-frequent flyers.
Top 3 Customer Concerns About Flying Again
The survey showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought three key concerns among customers about flying – the fear of exposure through the journey, fellow passengers not following health and safety protocols, and anticipated higher fares (in order of prominence).
The airline regularly conducts health checks of its crew members, has significantly reduced contact between its crew and customers, temporarily discontinued in-flight meals, onboard sales, reading material etc. to safeguard health and safety of passengers and staff in the ongoing pandemic. With an intensified aircraft cleaning procedure, Vistara disinfects and sanitises all its aircraft before every take-off and performs deep cleaning every 24 hours. Powerful, in-built air filtration systems on all of Vistara’s aircraft ensure the elimination of viruses and bacteria to refresh the cabin air every 2-3 minutes.
