Steep rise in self-service check-in at Mumbai airport: Survey

Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport has witnessed a steep rise in self-service check-in by the travellers flying out of one of India's international gateways.

The web check-in rate was higher in Mumbai than at any other airport as popularity of web, kiosk and mobile check-in has been increasing.

Around 65 per cent flyers preferred using self-service check-in as compared to last year's 36 per cent. Also at Mumbai, 70 per cent of passengers said they use it occasionally or frequently compared to a global average of 65 per cent, the 2011 SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey has found.

The survey was carried out with a representative sample of the 283.5 million passengers who pass through six of the world's leading airport hubs including Abu Dhabi International Airport, Beijing International Airport, Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport in Brazil, Frankfurt International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson at Atlanta (US), and Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai.

Passengers at Mumbai were also the highest user of several self-service options and the demand was high for new services, according to this year's survey which also found that the mobile phone was now an integral part of the passenger experience in India.

About 63 per cent Mumbai flyers had booked their tickets online compared to a global average of 57 per cent.

A total of 98 per cent of Mumbai survey respondents were carrying either a mobile phone (56 per cent) or a smartphone (42 per cent).

Smartphones were most popular with 66 per cent of the first or business class respondents and 44 per cent of frequent flyers (making 10 or more trips per year) of which 48 per cent preferred Blackberry.

The demand was high among the flyers for self-service options and Wi-Fi access at the airport.

According to the survey, about 80 per cent of smartphone users from the world like to connect to a free airport Wi-Fi network while 38 per cent were willing to pay for access compared to 10 per cent globally.

About 78 per cent Smartphone carriers at Mumbai airport wanted information on gate changes, flight delays and boarding status, 25 per cent about time to reach departure gate, 23 per cent on location of nearest lounge, 15 per cent about wait times at security and seven per cent on information on airport parking.

The survey found that there was a high demand for short message service (SMS) notifications of flight information. About 68 per cent frequent flyers had signed themselves up for the service, while 48 per cent of those carrying mobile receive flight information and 46 per cent more expressed their willingness to get such informations.

"This year's survey shows that passengers really appreciate the degree of self-service which the airport and the airlines have made available to them over the last year. Our strategy around passenger facilitation has been validated and we have gained a very useful insight into how this might evolve in the future," said Meenakshi Agrawal, Vice President (IT) of Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd.

MIAL would further increase the offsite check-in or self check-in as the government requirement for airlines to stamp boarding cards generated from kiosks would be discontinued and they would have to conduct identity checks at the boarding gate, a MIAL official said.

"It is great to see that the investment in passenger facilitation made by MIAL and its customer airlines is paying off so dramatically. It is now one of the most efficient airports in Asia when it comes to passenger self-service and the travelling public clearly wants to have more control over the different steps of the journey," said Maneesh Jaikrishna, SITA Country Director for India and Subcontinent.