The global representative body for the airline industry, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has released its 2025 Global Passenger Survey (GPS), compiled from 10 000 responses in 200 countries. Two key trends identified by the GPS were that more and more passengers were using their smartphones to manage their journeys, from beginning to end; and, there was increasing use of digital identity and biometrics to permit increasingly seamless processing at airports, and that passengers approved of this.

“Passengers want to manage their travel the same way they manage many other aspects of their lives—on their smartphones and using digital ID,” highlighted IATA Senior Vice President Operations, Safety and Security Nick Careen. “As experience grows with digital processes from booking to baggage claim, the message that travellers are sending in this year’s GPS is clear: they like it, and they want more of it. There is an important caveat which is the need to continue building trust, so cybersecurity remains a priority. Cybersecurity must be core to the end-to-end digital transformation of how we book, pay, and experience air travel.”

The survey showed that 54% of travellers wanted to deal directly with the airlines and were increasingly doing so via mobile apps. The most popular booking preference was still airline websites, at 31%, but this figure had dropped from the 37% recorded last year. Web apps were the choice of 19% this year, up from 16% last year, in a trend driven by younger passengers (25% of whom chose mobile apps).

In terms of payment, credit and debit cards remained far and away the most popular method, at 72% (but last year the figure had been 79%). The use of digital wallets has jumped from 20% last year to 28% this year. Instant payment methods, like IATA Pay, had also seen an increase is popularity, from 6% last year to 8% this year.
“Passengers want their smartphones to do more for them: 78% of passengers want to use a smartphone that combines a digital wallet, digital passport, and loyalty cards to book, pay, and navigate airport processes,” noted IATA. “Use of electronic bag tags is also on the rise, increasing from 28% in 2024 to 35% in 2025, allowing passengers to generate their bag tags directly from a mobile device during check-in.”

Regarding biometrics, this year 50% of passengers had used them at some time during their trip, as against 46% last year. IATA observed that the use of biometrics had risen by almost 20 percentage points since 2022. During this year, 44% of travellers had used biometrics at security, 41% at exit immigration and 35% at entry immigration, with 85% of passengers reporting that they had been pleased with the experience. Further, 72% said that they were willing to share biometric information if it meant that they could avoid having to show a passport or boarding pass at the various airport and embarkation checkpoints. Of those who were still unwilling to share their information 42% would be willing to reconsider if the privacy of their data could be assured.  

Passengers from the different regions had different priorities and enthusiasm for the new technologies. Asia-Pacific travellers were the most digitally-aware and expert and had the highest levels of satisfaction for these technologies.

“African passengers value the human touch; they are most likely to book through airline offices or call centres,” reported IATA. “Their satisfaction levels are among the highest globally, ranking second overall. Yet they face the greatest border challenges, with visa and immigration complexity cited as key barriers. Simplifying these processes could unlock major growth.”

European passengers were the most cautious and traditional in their approach, with the lowest use of, or trust in, biometrics. For North Americans, the top priority was convenience, but while they used biometrics a lot, they also had the highest level of concern about privacy. Latin American and Caribbean travellers used biometrics less frequently but were very willing to adopt the technology. Middle Eastern passengers were very engaged digitally, with many using digital wallets and strongly supportive of smartphone-based travel documents.   

Men were more enthusiastic adopters of the new technologies than women. For women, key factors in travel decisions were reliability and trust. Younger passengers led in adopting the new technologies but were also those who sought strong assurances on security and privacy.