Significant Variables Currently Influencing Air Travelers' Preference for Domestic Airlines in Nigeria
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“Significant variables currently influencing air travelers’ preference for domestic airlines in Nigeria” Ben Sidiq AUTHORS Mobolaji Stephens Wilfred Ukpere Ben Sidiq, Mobolaji Stephens and Wilfred Ukpere (2020). Significant variables ARTICLE INFO currently influencing air travelers’ preference for domestic airlines in Nigeria. Tourism and Travelling, 3(1), 16-24. doi:10.21511/tt.3(1).2021.03 DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/tt.3(1).2021.03 RELEASED ON Thursday, 19 August 2021 RECEIVED ON Wednesday, 23 June 2021 ACCEPTED ON Friday, 13 August 2021 LICENSE This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License JOURNAL "Tourism and Travelling" ISSN PRINT 2544-2295 ISSN ONLINE 2616-5090 PUBLISHER LLC “Consulting Publishing Company “Business Perspectives” FOUNDER Sp. z o.o. Kozmenko Science Publishing NUMBER OF REFERENCES NUMBER OF FIGURES NUMBER OF TABLES 18 0 5 © The author(s) 2021. This publication is an open access article. businessperspectives.org Tourism and Travelling, Volume 3, Issue 1, 2021 Sidiq Ben (Nigeria), Mobolaji Stephens (Nigeria), Wilfred Ukpere (South Africa) Significant variables BUSINESS PERSPECTIVES currently influencing air LLC “СPС “Business Perspectives” Hryhorii Skovoroda lane, 10, travelers’ preference for Sumy, 40022, Ukraine www.businessperspectives.org domestic airlines in Nigeria Abstract In recent years domestic airlines are improving their services, and the major airlines in Nigeria are ahead of others based on superior strategies; in fact, some airlines are not fully utilized, which affects their profitability, while others are highly utilized. Market dynamics and regulatory forces are the key variables that influence airline attributes, features, and developments, but this is most evident where each airline competes for passengers despite the different route choices and airports of departure. This udyst aimed to examine the significant variables that are currently influencing air travelers’ preference for domestic airlines in Nigeria. Primary data were obtained through sys- tematic and random sampling of air passengers, and a questionnaire was employed for Received on: 23rd of June, 2021 data analysis. In Lagos and Abuja airports, 757 and 682 questionnaires were adminis- Accepted on: 13th of August, 2021 tered respectively with 71.1% and 61.9% returned respectively. Regression analysis was Published on: 19th of August, 2021 utilized to analyze the primary data. The study found that time, safety, and fare are the most influencing factors determining passenger choice of domestic airlines in Nigeria. © Sidiq Ben, Mobolaji Stephens, The current findings are crucial for policymaking, particularly during the phase of air- Wilfred Ukpere, 2021 line planning and management especially during the Covid-19 pandemic era that has challenged the economic buoyancy and the purchasing power of passengers. Sidiq Ben, M.Sc., Ph.D., Scholar, Keywords passenger preference, local airlines, air travelers, Lagos Department of Spatial and Planning airport, Abuja airport Science, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, JEL Classification R41 Nigeria. Mobolaji Stephens, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Logistic INTRODUCTION and Transport Technology, Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria. The appearance of more domestic airlines dishing out scheduled ser- Wilfred Ukpere, Ph.D., Professor vices result in increased airline competition. In addition, the issue of of Human Resources Management, Department of Industrial Psychology choice for prospective air travelers and the choice of decision-making and People Management, School of around the route by airlines are critically examined during planning. Management, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, In a situation where a particular airline operator is fixed on a particu- South Africa. (Corresponding author) lar route at a particular time, such an airline operator can dominate traffic on that same route (Ukpere et al., 2012; Ashford et al., 1976). In recent years, domestic airlines are improving their services and the major airlines have proven to be ahead of others based on various su- perior strategies in Nigeria. Some airlines are not fully utilized, which negatively affects profitabil- ity, while others are highly utilized and making a profit. Market dy- namics and regulatory forces are the key variables that do influence This is an Open Access article, airline attributes, features, and developments. This is most evident distributed under the terms of the where each airline competes for passengers. In this instance, there are Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which permits different route choices and airports of departure. As soon as passen- unrestricted re-use, distribution, and gers procure airline seats at a stipulated amount that is determined reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. by the airline, it then implies that such passengers by implication are Conflict of interest statement: not only paying for a seat in the aircraft but also for other services Author(s) reported no conflict of interest attached to that particular seat. This study determines the variables 16 http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/tt.3(1).2021.03 Tourism and Travelling, Volume 3, Issue 1, 2021 influencing air traveler choice of a domestic airline in Nigeria. These variables are the fundamental fac- tors for the success of airlines in Nigeria. It will help to enhance periodic evaluation of airline positions, as well as support the development of an effective marketing strategy. It is pertinent to note that there is more competition on a dominant route and less competition on a less dominant route. This competition is dependent on the distance of transportation. 1. LITERATURE REVIEW riers. From the estimation, it was suggested that the airline industry would be highly significant. Air transport is vital for the travel and tourism The Nigerian air transportation sector is one of industry. This essence is not only felt within a the most important drivers of the national econ- geographical space of a country but across the omy development. The rapidly expanding aviation globe. Air transport is currently confronted by in- sector in Nigeria handles over 15 million passen- creasing competition and advanced sophisticated gers that board aircraft in 2014 (Nigerian Civil technological innovations, which has improved Aviation Statistics, 2014) and the expected mul- the nature of air transport operation, particular- tiple increases in the current period, identifying ly by making it available and accessible to many various service characteristics of domestic airlines tourists (Sultan & Simpson, 2000; Boey et al., vis-à-vis management of their customers become 2012). Nigeria air traffic (passengers and freights) crucial (Ayantoyinbo, 2015). has increased in recent years. This increase may be a result of government actions in the provi- The efficiency of air transportation relies on the sion of basic aeronautical equipment and naviga- level of the infrastructures in place. The essen- tional aid facilities among others (Ubogu, 2013). tial airport infrastructures are taxiways, runways, Notwithstanding the rise in the volume of air pas- apron space, passenger and freight terminals, gates, senger traffic, unequal traffic situation persists in and ground transport interchanges. Airports con- the nations landing space. On this note, there is stitute a wide variety of facilities and services to a need for the management of resource allocation accomplish air transport. The major air transport regarding the different airports. role is movement, while others are air traffic con- trol, fire service, and security service. Handling Some decades ago, aviation in Nigeria was iden- facilities are for passengers’ baggage and cargo, tified as a flourishing sector in the economy. The which can be successfully transferred from one state of the aviation sector is one of the indicators point to another particularly during processing for measuring a nation’s development. The im- within the terminals. Airports also offer commer- portance of this sector to the economy of Nigeria cial facilities such as conference services, shops, cannot be overemphasized. The effect is naturally business parks, restaurants, and hotels (Graham, characterized by business regimes or alternation 2003; Adeniran & Fadare, 2018). involving the phase of economic expansion and down-turns, whose records tend to display some When passengers appraise the positive aspects of form of recurring patterns of occurrence. In tot- service airlines, their mindset is affected, which ting up, every market is vastly disposed to differ- in turn affects their purchasing behavior (Boey et ent shocks that arise from economic, political, ge- al., 2012). This study is similar to studies on satis- ographical, etc., which tilts towards modifying the faction. Researchers within the airline services do- previous trends plus making the statistics unsta- main have as well utilized the thought of prospec- ble (Bougas, 2013). tive exchanges as a measure of worth, fulfillment, and feat (Cronin & Taylor, 1992). Concerning at- From 1.6 billion tourists that were estimated by titude and belief, Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) noted the United Nations World Tourism Organization that thoughts are a person’s constructive or crit- (UNWTO, 2001) for the year 2020, 1.2 billion is ical evaluation of an entity, philosophy, and rep- expected to be within regional,