More surprising: while young people are worried about the climate, they appreciate flying despite its disastrous ecological impact.
Air travel trends: a majority of customers are female
Contrary to the popular belief that men, especially businessmen, dominate the skies, recent studies show a very different reality. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC), women now represent 51% of air passengers.
According to data from the DGAC, published in the 2023 National Air Passenger Survey (ENPA), women have become the majority among air passengers in France. This survey, carried out among 46,000 passengers in 10 airports in the metropolis, reveals that 51% of travelers are women. This is the first time that women outnumber men in this annual survey.
The main reason for travel remains leisure, representing 51% of trips, followed by visits to family and friends (25%).. Business travel, for its part, saw its share decrease significantly, from 31.9% in 2010 to 19% in 2023.
More and more young people are taking planes in France
The distribution of air passengers by gender shows a majority of women, but ENPA 2023 data also reveals interesting trends regarding the age of travelers. Young people aged 15 to 34 represent 45% of passengers, an increase of 5 points compared to 2015-2016. This age group, often perceived as more concerned about environmental issues, nevertheless continues to favor airplanes for their travel.
The DGAC study also undermines the idea that flying is reserved for the wealthiest social classes. The share of advantaged socio-professional categories (CSP+) decreased from 50% to 43%, while that of less advantaged categories (CSP-) increased from 24% to 32%. This democratization of the use of airplanes demonstrates increased accessibility to air transport, despite its increase in cost and growing ecological concerns.
Travelers don’t care about the carbon footprint of the plane
Despite growing concerns about the carbon footprint of air travel, a majority of passengers (83%) have not given up flying to reduce their carbon footprint. In addition, almost half of respondents (47%) do not plan to reduce their air travel in the years to come. However, 17% say they have given up on a trip because of the planet.
Air travel is also very common among users. 20% of respondents made more than 5 trips in the 12 months preceding the survey, 39% between two and five…
