Time-of-day preferences for intercity air travel: Case - New Delhi, India

Abstract

This paper investigates the preferred time slots of travelers flying from New Delhi to other major cities in India utilizing a revealed preference data. This paper presents the preferences for any one of the periods (Morning, Mid-Day, and Evening) as a binary choice model. Subsequently, the reasons for the choice of a particular time of day are explore and compared against the Morning time. The empirical models reveal that age, household income, the category of the route leading to the destination city, and trip purpose are some of the statistically relevant variables differentiating the preferences for any time slot against a specific one. In comparison, class of journey, gender, household income, and educational status are found to differentiate the choice among Morning, Mid-day, and Evening periods for the individuals who stated that they prefer to make the trip only during a specific period. The models imply that a respondent’s age is found to influence the choice of a specific time. In contrast, the gender of an individual and trip purpose significantly affected the choices among Morning, Mid-day, and Evening periods. Based on the transferability of choice models over time, the study interprets the findings in terms of plans and policies for airline operators and airport authorities. The operators could gain inputs to planning trip schedules and infrastructure facilities in response to socio-demographic changes.