An Analysis of the Success Factors for Passenger Boarding Enthusiasm for Low-Cost Regional Airline Routes

Airports are important air transportation facilities, providing cargo transportation, aircraft takeoff and landing, and passenger services. Trade liberalization and globalization along with shifting economies and trading focuses have led to the rapid growth of airline and cargo transportation in Asia-Pacific regions. Therefore, Asian countries are constantly expanding and improving their airport facilities. Thus, improving and measuring airline service quality has attracted significant research attention in recent years. The Chinese Government has also actively promoted low-cost tourism, although competition in low-cost carrier markets was bound to be fierce. This not only promoted tourism industries but also attracted many foreign visitors to taking low-cost carriers to China for sightseeing. With international oil prices and regional economy issues, full-service carriers face considerable operational pressure on cost and competition. This study used the fuzzy delphi and decision making trial and evaluation laboratory methods to explore and analyze key factors for passengers choosing low-cost airlines. We considered passengers using U Airlines to travel from Shanghai to Taiwan (Taoyuan, Kaohsiung Far) and investigated service quality, low-price strategies, switching costs, and boarding willingness factors. We found that boarding willingness and service quality were strongly relevant to passenger satisfaction. Service quality should be prioritized, followed by switching cost, to enhance passenger boarding willingness. Low-cost regional airlines need to prioritize improving service quality empathy and service quality responsiveness with limited resources. Performance indicators such as willingness, service quality assurance, and service quality reliability showed significant benefits for overall service performance and passenger boarding willingness.