Attitudes Towards Air Travel

These are the key findings of a survey among the general public concerning their experience of, and attitudes towards, flying. The study was conducted by MORI on behalf of the Freedom to Fly Coalition.

Key Findings

• The vast majority of the general public have travelled by plane before (88%), with two in five having made a trip by plane in the last 12 months.
• Those most likely to have flown in the last 12 months can be classified as "high flyers":- ABs, those working full time, those with household incomes of 16330,000pa or more and/or broadsheet readers.
• The most common reasons for making a journey by plane is for a holiday within Europe, followed by long haul holidays and visits to friends and/or relations.
• Although the survey was conducted after September 11, more than two in five members of the GB public (44%) hope to fly more frequently in the next few years, while a further third hope to continue flying as frequently in the next few years as they do now.
• Eight in ten of those who have flown before believe it important to be able to fly when and where you want when planning a holiday or business trip; and most of these think it is very important. Less than one in five consider it not important.
• The great majority of the GB public (85%) agree that air travel helps the British economy, and that the growth of air travel should match consumer demand with proper regard for the environment (76%).
• As might be expected, men and "high flyers" are the biggest advocates of air travel; however, even those who have never flown before tend to hold very positive attitudes towards air travel.

Technical details

A nationally representative quota sample of 2,025 adults were interviewed throughout Great Britain across 185 constituency-based sampling points. Interviews were carried out using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing) face-to-face in respondents' homes between 13th to the 18th December 2001. Data have been weighted to reflect the national population profile.