Three-quarters of air travellers would be comfortable having their passports stored on mobile devices, according to a survey by the Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (Sita).

In 2023, air travel soared, surpassing industry expectations. IATA predictions suggest demand will only continue to grow, reaching eight billion global passengers by 2040.

Ensuring the passenger journey is smooth and efficient will be more important for the industry to manage this growth. According to Sita’s 2024 Passenger IT Insights report, travellers see technology as key, eagerly embracing innovations such as mobile-enabled digital travel.

Passengers already use their mobile devices as a remote control for the journey, with high adoption across key stages such as booking, dwell time and baggage collection. Taking this a step further, three out of four passengers surveyed reported being comfortable with having their passport stored on their phone through a secure digital travel credential and sharing this in advance to speed up the journey. This signals the important role digital identities could play in the travel experience of the future.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of passengers highlight shorter airport queues as the most important improvement to the travel process they’d like to see. Biometrics have been proven to speed up passenger processing times, but half of passengers express lingering concerns around data privacy.

This points to a need for education and reassurance about the safety and benefits of biometric technology, which is tested against rigorous data security standards. Still, passengers rate their comfort levels with biometrics relatively highly, at an average of 6.7 out of 10.

“We are on the cusp of a new era in travel, as unprecedented demand converges with technological innovations that have the power to revolutionise the journey,” said David Lavorel, Sita CEO. “The appetite from passengers is clear: they’re eager to embrace the latest digital options to make their experience swifter and more streamlined than ever before. The responsibility falls to the industry to ensure travellers are fully informed of the advanced data security and privacy-preserving potential of biometrics.”

Sustainability remains front of mind for passengers, who are willing to take on extra commitments in terms of cost and time to make their travel greener. They’re willing to pay an average of 11% on top of their ticket cost to offset their flight’s carbon emissions. More than half are also open to taking longer flights at slower speed or carrying lighter baggage to reduce their carbon footprint.

“Passengers are telling the industry that they are willing to meet us halfway in terms of the shift towards net-zero aviation,” said Lavorel. “Their openness to carbon offsetting and changing behaviours around baggage will supplement airlines’ and airports’ commitment to reducing emissions through measures like sustainable technology and changes to operations and infrastructure.”

Sita surveyed more than 7000 passengers across 25 countries in the Americas, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa earlier this year as part of the 2024 Passenger IT Insights research (www.sita.aero/resources/surveys-reports/2024-sita-passenger-it-insights).

Sita (www.sita.aero) is the air transport industry’s IT provider, delivering technology for airlines, airports, aircraft and governments. With around 2500 customers, Sita drives operational efficiencies at more than 1000 airports while delivering the promise of the connected aircraft to customers of over 18,000 aircraft globally. Sita also provides technology that helps more than 70 governments strike the balance of secure borders and seamless travel. Sita is 100% owned by the industry.