MOSCOW, 09 August 2022. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey devoted to civil aviation.
Fear has many eyes
Fewer Russians are afraid of travelling by plane. Today the number of people who have aerophobia has decreased to 23% compared to four years ago (−10 p.p., 33% in 2018). Seventy-three percent of respondents are not afraid of flying (62% in 2018).
Aerophobia is shaped by gender and education. Women are twice as more likely to feel anxiety when flying on a plane than men (30% vs. 15% among men); persons with incomplete secondary education, twice as more likely than those who high level of education (37% vs. 20% among those with incomplete and higher education). |
Welcome aboard!
The pandemic, a rise in geopolitical tensions and suspended flights to a number of countries have not made air transport less popular in Russia. As in 2018, today approximately a quarter of Russians say that they have traveled by plane in recent years (28%; 29% in 2018). In eight years this percentage has increased 1.5-fold (19% in 2014), primarily at the expense of those who flew occasionally (2-3 times) or multiple times (6 and more).
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A typical Russian air passenger is a man (32%), a young person aged 18-34 (37%), with higher education (43%) and good income (39%), living in metropolitan area or a million-plus city (52% and 41% respectively).
At the check-in counter you are most likely to see people who have no aerophobia (31% vs. 23% of those with a fear of flying). |
Russian air passengers increasingly value comfort (24%, + 6 p.p. since 2018) and affordable prices (21%, +5 p.p. since 2018), however high speed is the biggest priority of air travel (85%, 78% in 2018). Whereas in 2018 the lack of alternative means of transport was the second common answer, today it is ranked fourth (−11 p.p., 16% in 2022). Twelve percent of respondents choose air travel because of safety; every tenth, good location of the airport (10%). A further 8% mention convenient schedule of flights, which is twice larger than four years ago.
Vacation vs. business trip
Since 2018, the purposes of air travel have not changed. In recent years, most of Russians have used planes to travel for personal reasons (71%, 68% in 2018); 18%, for work. Every tenth travelled by plane both for work and on vacation (10%).
In recent 2-3 years mission trips have been mainly made by men (31% vs. 5% of women) and middle-aged respondents (22-23% of the 35-59-year-olds; vacation trips have been popular among women and older generation persons (89% and 83% respectively). |
I’d go to the sky… I wouldn’t!
In the recent two-three years, 71% of Russians have not travelled by plane; they are often older age Russians (60+) and respondents with secondary special and lower education levels (83% and 82-94% respectively).
Most of those Russians who have not flown anywhere say they did not need it (63%). Costly tickets are a barrier for a quarter of Russians (25%); 13% prefer other means of transport. Less common reasons are aerophobia (8%), lack of a nearby airport (6%) and health issues (4%).
VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide telephone survey was conducted 2 August, 2022. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18 and over took part in the survey. Survey method: telephone interviews using a stratified random sample based on a complete list of Russian mobile phone numbers. The data were weighted for social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
August 2, 2022 survey key effectiveness indicators: 1,600 respondents; cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.8187; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0227; response rate (RR)*** = 0.1683. Calculations based on corporate standard: https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/
* CR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.
** MRR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the respondents where it is unknown whether they meet the selected criteria or not.
***RR: RR is calculated in the same way as MRR, with the only difference that the number of respondents with unknown eligibility decreases proportional to the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of respondents with identified eligibility or non-eligibility.
Are you likely to agree or disagree with the statement “I’m afraid of flying”? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | ||
| 2018** | 2022 |
Likely to agree | 33 | 23 |
Likely to disagree | 62 | 73 |
Don’t know | 5 | 4 |
** surveys based on telephone interviews (“Sputnik” project); stratified two-stage random sample of landline and mobile phone numbers from a complete list of telephone numbers in use in Russia. Sample size in 2018: 1,000; sample size in 2021: 1,600.
Have you happened to fly any of the airlines over the recent 2-3 years; if yes, how often? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||||
| 2014* | 2015* | 2018** | 2021** | 2022 |
Once | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
2-3 times | 7 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 11 |
4-5 times | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
6 times and more | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
No | 79 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 71 |
Don’t know | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
* household face-to-face interviews (“Express” project); stratified multi-stage sample with socio-demographic quotas; sample representative of the Russian population aged 18 and over based on settlement type, gender, age, education, and federal district. Sample size: 1,600
** surveys based on telephone interviews (“Sputnik” project); stratified two-stage random sample of landline and mobile phone numbers from a complete list of telephone numbers in use in Russia. Sample size in 2018: 1,000; sample size in 2021: 1,600.
Have you happened to fly any of the airlines over the recent 2-3 years; if yes, how often? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | ||||||||
| Total | Men | Women | Ages 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 + |
Once | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 8 |
2-3 times | 11 | 12 | 9 | 20 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 4 |
4-5 times | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
6 times and more | 5 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 |
No | 71 | 68 | 74 | 63 | 61 | 66 | 72 | 83 |
Don’t know | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Why do you travel by plane? Please cite 2-3 reasons. (closed-ended question, no more than 3 answers, % of those who have travelled by plane in the recent 2-3 years) | ||
| 2018** | 2022 |
Fast/speed | 78 | 85 |
Comfort | 18 | 24 |
Affordable/acceptable price | 16 | 21 |
No alternative means of transport | 27 | 16 |
Safety | 8 | 12 |
Good location of the airport | 8 | 10 |
Convenient schedule | 4 | 8 |
Other | 5 | 5 |
Don’t know | 0 | 0 |
** surveys based on telephone interviews (“Sputnik” project); stratified two-stage random sample of landline and mobile phone numbers from a complete list of telephone numbers in use in Russia. Sample size in 2018: 1,000; sample size in 2021: 1,600.
What was the purpose of your flights in the recent 2-3 years? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who have travelled by plane in the recent 2-3 years) | ||
| 2018** | 2022 |
Basically for personal purposes (on vacation) | 68 | 71 |
Basically on a business trip (mission trip) | 18 | 18 |
Almost equally – for work and for personal purposes | 12 | 10 |
Don’t know | 2 | 1 |
** surveys based on telephone interviews (“Sputnik” project); stratified two-stage random sample of landline and mobile phone numbers from a complete list of telephone numbers in use in Russia. Sample size in 2018: 1,000; sample size in 2021: 1,600.
What was the purpose of your flights in the recent 2-3 years? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who have travelled by plane in the recent 2-3 years) | ||||||||
| Total | Men | Women | Ages 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 + |
Basically for personal purposes (on vacation) | 71 | 53 | 89 | 69 | 70 | 65 | 68 | 83 |
Basically on a business trip (mission trip) | 18 | 31 | 5 | 18 | 16 | 23 | 22 | 12 |
Almost equally – for work and for personal purposes | 10 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 5 |
Don’t know | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
If you haven’t flown anywhere in the recent 2-3 years, can you tell us why? Please cite 2-3 reasons (closed-ended question, no more than 3 answers, % of those who have NOT travelled by plane in the recent 2-3 years) | ||
| 2018** | 2022 |
No need to go anywhere | 60 | 63 |
High ticket prices | 26 | 25 |
I prefer another means of transport | 13 | 13 |
Afraid of flying, flight | 10 | 8 |
No nearby airport | 6 | 6 |
I cannot fly due to medical reasons | 6 | 4 |
It’s unsafe | 5 | 3 |
It’s faster to use another transport means | 2 | 2 |
No convenient travel itineraries | 1 | 2 |
Low level of comfort | 0 | 0 |
Other | 7 | 11 |
Don’t know | 1 | 0 |
** surveys based on telephone interviews (“Sputnik” project); stratified two-stage random sample of landline and mobile phone numbers from a complete list of telephone numbers in use in Russia. Sample size in 2018: 1,000; sample size in 2021: 1,600.