Research commissioned by Bristol Airport shows that millennials – classed in this case as those between 18-34 years – are much more likely to travel outside the UK now than they were two years ago.

Carried out by YouGov on behalf of Bristol Airport, the study found that more 25-34-year-olds are flying regularly for work than any other age group. It also revealed that leisure travel is on the rise among this age group with 56% of those surveyed declaring that they had flown in the past 12 months.

Millennials were also found to travel more frequently than older age groups when it comes to visiting family outside the UK. Of the 40% of those polled with close family living outside the UK, 29% of 18-24-year-olds and 26% of 25-34-year-olds declared that they visited family outside the UK once or more a year, compared to 18% of those aged 55 and over

Despite concerns over Brexit, the results also suggest that millennials think of themselves as having a more international outlook with 11% of 18-24-year-olds identifying themselves as European, compared to an average of 7% across all age groups.

Referencing the study, Nigel Scott, business development director at Bristol, one of the UK’s busiest regional airports, said:

“Millennials could make up as much as half of our passengers in 20 years’ time, so understanding what drives their travel decisions is important. Their international outlook suggests that they will continue to want to travel in future, so airports need to ensure we are providing the choice and value millennials are looking for.”

Unsurprisingly, cost plays a big factor when deciding which airport to fly from among younger travellers, with 67% of 18-24-year-olds and 68% of 25-34-year-olds saying it would impact their decision. Additionally, 35% of 18-24-year-olds also declared they would be prepared to sacrifice convenient flight times and 17% would sacrifice speed and efficiency when choosing which airport to fly from.

Younger travellers are also more likely to be concerned about cost when selecting where they are jetting off to, with 41% of 18-24-year-olds saying low cost influenced their last choice of holiday destination, compared to 18% of those aged 55 and over.

When comparing regions across the UK, the study also found that people in London, the South East and South West fly more frequently than those in the Midlands and the North. Scots place the least importance on speed and efficiency when at the airport, while Brexit has had the biggest negative impact on travel plans in London and the East Midlands.

Leave a Reply