Air Ticketing Not Expected to Recover Until 2024, Says Study

Digital air ticketing transaction values are not expected to reach pre-Covid-19 levels before 2024, according to a new study from Juniper Research.

According to the study “Digital Ticketing: Industry Trends, Opportunities and Market Forecasts 2020-2025“, digital ticket transaction volumes are expected to exceed pre-Covid-19 levels by 2022 for other segments – rising from 12.7 billion in 2020 to 32 billion in 2022, but not for airlines.

“The easing of global travel restrictions will drive increased demand for mobile ticketing in the rail, metro and bus sectors, as commuters return to work… The only sector to buck this trend is the airline industry which was severely hit by the pandemic, with digital ticket transaction values anticipated to decline by almost $400 billion in 2020,” Juniper Research said.

As the study notes, several airlines have filed for insolvency, with more predicted to follow, and ticketing revenue will struggle to match previous levels.

“Air ticketing is already highly digital, with features such as online check-in well-established. Therefore, digital transformation cannot offer the same benefits here as in other segments,” the study said.

Consequently, the research predicts that digital air ticketing transaction values will not reach pre-COVID levels before 2024.

The research “Digital Ticketing: Industry Trends, Opportunities and Market Forecasts 2020-2025” urges transport authorities to execute swift transformation strategies to satisfy changing customer preferences or risk missing opportunities to reduce cash use and drive mobile ticketing adoption post pandemic.

Contactless ticketing to see growth across all sectors

The research also expects the ongoing pandemic to cause a permanent shift in consumer behaviour, resulting in significant increases in contactless payment adoption. Total contactless ticketing transaction volumes are expected to grow from 1.7 billion in 2020 to 13 billion by 2022; representing a 200 percent growth. To exploit this growth, the research urges transit operators and authorities to focus on contactless deployments to meet consumer expectations, as transport usage returns to pre-pandemic norms.

“Consumer perception of contactless payments has shifted from one of convenience to being essential. With increased post-pandemic demand for contactless ticketing, stakeholders must collaborate to rapidly overcome the barriers to contactless payments posed by a lack of standardised infrastructure,” says research author, Susannah Hampton.

Juniper Research offers research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector; providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.