The Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board has released findings from a survey of D.C.-area air travelers.
For the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, COG’s National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board surveyed the habits of D.C.-area air travelers. The results showed that business travel is still down, most using the D.C.-area airports drive themselves there, and almost 1 in 10 travelers using Dulles Airport chose the Metro’s Silver Line to get there.
A lot of travelers in the D.C. area are flying for pleasure and less for business, according to survey results released Wednesday by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
In addition to the findings on business travel, the survey also concluded that most travelers using the region’s three airports drive themselves there, and almost 1 in 10 travelers using Dulles chose Metro’s Silver Line to get there.
The survey results will be used for COG’s Continuous Airport System Planning Program.
The largest share of those responding, at 45%, said they book flights at the airport closest to their home. Convenience was the reason cited by 58% of respondents, followed by 14% who said price and 12% who said reliability.
Other factor’s people consider when choosing an airport include whether the airport has a direct/non-stop flight to their destination, the quality of public ground transportation and flight times.
Business travel remains below pre-pandemic levels, accounting for 30% of trips through the D.C. area’s three airports last year, compared to 38% in its last survey before the pandemic.
“As might be expected, the region has experienced a decline in business travel due to the pandemic and post-pandemic factors.”
Vacation travel has grown from 24% in 2017 to 36%.
When asked how travelers got to the airport for their trip, 45% said by driving their own vehicle. Lyft and Uber ranked second, which has nearly doubled since 2017 to 26% of airport trips last year.
The breakdown is a little different by airport. The share of passengers who traveled to the airport by private car was highest at BWI Marshall, followed by Dulles and Reagan National passengers.
While public transportation use remains below pre-pandemic levels, 9% of all travelers using Dulles used the Metro’s Silver Line. The transit agency added the Dulles stop in November 2022.
The survey adds Reagan National passengers most frequently (37%), used ride share or an airport shuttle service, followed by Dulles and BWI Marshall.
The age of travelers using the D.C. region’s airports has not changed, with those 45 to 54 years old accounting for the most, followed by people 35 to 44 years old, and those 25 to 34 years old.
The planning board surveyed 18,310 travelers using Dulles International, Reagan National and BWI Marshall airports in October 2023. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments posted a summary of the board’s findings from the survey online.
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