Multi City International Flights

Even though a group of air travellers and tour operators are retaliating with a cartel action against the carriers, the rules could in the meantime turn out to be expensive for them. But a new OAG Aviation survey showed that a number of travellers are already adapting to the real world.

The OAG figures showed that passengers skip the multi-city fares quoted by airlines' reservation pages and opt instead for a'self-connection' by purchasing distinct fares for multiple destinations - often on different carriers. The OAG interviewed more than 2,900 travellers and found that 40 per cent of them already have a direct connection. Meanwhile, 92 per cent are willing to join themselves under the right conditions, and 37 per cent are willing to spend more than four an hour waiting for a stay to spare $200.

Over millennia - a group that is not known for being interested in wanting to wait for things to come to pass, - the poll showed that the figure rises to 55 per cent. Dearer multi-city trips "play an absolute role for the consumers when it comes to promoting self-connecting travel," said John Grant, OAG seniors researcher. "Experienced travellers will quickly begin searching the web for connections between carriers as well as within an airport network," he said.

" The OAG poll showed that while savings are an important stimulus for self-connecting travellers, 31 per cent of travellers are more likely to make a self-connection through a city they actually want to go to. This is becoming a more and more common phenomenon as towns and communities are investing large sums in "airport cities" - or airports - that provide a broad spectrum of dining, accommodation and fun that goes beyond the temporary.

On an international level, places such as Phuket International in Thailand also refer to themselves as "resorts", while inland places such as Denver International and the New York JFK are, according to Airports World, part of at least 70 different world airports. "A lot of travelers make proactive choices about the airports they want to visit," says Scott Ludwigsen, Senior VP of the Phoenix Marketing International Group.

Travellers are interviewed while they are at the airport, and the company recently found that Tampa, Florida and Salt Lake City had high ranking passenger highways. "Although some travellers are avoiding connections via certain aerodromes, other travellers have their favourite aerodromes where they like to enjoy some down-time due to the experience they have had in the past.

Ludwigsen said, for example, that 75 per cent of the Charlotte Douglas International Airport's passenger base is made up of airport travellers. Almost half of the Salt Lake City International Airport passenger base flies there, and "SLC passenger ratings are above industry standard, as are the gates and terminals," Ludwigsen said.