Changes in Air Travel

Introduction Terrorist attacks on 11th September 2001 greatly changed the pattern of air travel. Congress mandated inspection of all checked baggage and improved the passenger inspection procedure. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is authorized to oversee these changes. The main obstacle is that older outdated equipment can not meet demand and as a result passengers handling is significantly delayed. As the aviation industry recovers from this attack, how to pass passengers quickly and efficiently across the airport is a challenge.

This increase in the number of passengers represents the peak of the change in the air travel industry from the early days of civil aviation travel. Combined with the popularity of the Internet and "price transparency" in the industry, the emergence of "low cost airlines" in the early 1970s urged mass market entry into air travel. Air travel has become a product like sugar, gold, coffee beans. By definition, goods are indistinguishable from each other. As products convert to goods, services, and experiences, prices will rise accordingly as differentiation progresses. For example, coffee beans ("goods") are more likely to be baked and packaged ("good"), provided with meals ("service") or integrated into silver's meal service ("experience") It will be expensive. The price of coffee follows a pattern of economic value progress (Figure 1a).

Price elasticity of demand measures the change in demand for a particular product or service against price change. The elasticity of the demand for air travel depends on the importance of the market scope and price change location and the price of air travel. Because there are few alternatives, the demand of the Maldives is not comparatively resilient. Especially during the peak season (tourist season and school holiday) from November to the end of February, people are prepared to purchase tickets at any price. Meanwhile, supply exceeded supply, so supply was not relatively elastic. Normally, due to high demand during this period, Maldives operates a local destination and additional flights to Trivandrum. Air travel is often luxurious and there is a resilient demand for income. For consumers with high disposable income levels, air transportation spending accounts for a small proportion of disposable income, while consumers with low disposable incomes have fewer disposable incomes.