The United Kingdom (UK) plays an important role in the European aviation industry, hosting one of the major European aviation hubs, Heathrow Airport. In the last three decades, between 1992 and 2019, the number of passengers arriving and departing at airport terminals in the UK almost tripled, amounting to over 296 million people being transported by air in the UK in 2019. However, disruption and travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic marked air passengers' experiences in the UK in the following two years. As the coronavirus pandemic spread in 2020, only 73.7 million
, which was a dramatic decrease compared to the previous year. The passenger traffic in British airports even dropped more in 2021 before showing signs of a first recovery in 2022. That year, airports in the UK saw a return to travel with no or a few of the coronavirus pandemic travel restrictions, but some disruption to travel continued, with staff shortages and several strikes affecting passenger experiences.
Satisfaction level of air travelers
Passengers' satisfaction with the airport experience dropped sharply between 2020 and 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Staff shortages at airlines, airports, and in the UK's border force, pandemic-related measurements, along with strike action, have led to problems with delayed and canceled flights, long queues and crowding in airports, and difficulties with luggage handling. In 2020, 81 percent of passengers reported being very or fairly satisfied with their airport experience, but by 2022, the passenger satisfaction level had dropped to 71 percent.
Even though these issues remained predominant in 2023, the level of satisfaction among air travelers increased to 76 percent. Particularly, the
primary factor influencing the overall travel experience of air travelers in the United Kingdom is delayed flights, which accounted for a significant passenger share of 33 percent. In order to mitigate the dissatisfaction of passengers, airlines operating in the United Kingdom utilized communication channels to inform passengers of their flight status. In that year, approximately half of air passengers who encountered travel disruptions were provided with information regarding the cause of the interruption.
The cost of living crisis is affecting air travel
COVID-19 and travel disruption are no longer the only concerns of the airline industry. The UK has been experiencing a cost of living crisis since late 2021. Between September 2022 and March 2023, the UK saw seven months of
double-digit inflation, which peaked at 11.1 percent in October 2022. However, wages have not kept up with rising prices. Despite the noticeable decrease in disposable income experienced by consumers, the
annual average price index value of air passenger travel experienced a surge of 16 percent between the years 2022 and 2023. As of 2023, 67 percent of UK air passengers expressed a high or moderate level of
satisfaction with the value for money of flying, which is the lowest level since March 2016. Nevertheless, despite the economic uncertainty,
revenue in the UK's flight market is projected to grow in the upcoming years, reaching 27.8 billion US dollars in 2028.
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