A total of 48% of UAE airline passengers prefer to use self-service technology at airports rather than interact with a person, according to a survey.

The 2016 SITA Passenger IT Trends Survey was carried out by IT provider SITA across the UAE’s main airports and is said to represent 98% of the country's passenger traffic.

The survey indicated passengers are increasingly using self-service technology to book (93%), check-in (44%) and access their boarding pass (61%).

"Passengers are increasingly demanding more self-service technology along their journey."

SITA president for Middle East, India and Africa Hani El-Assaad said: “Passengers in the UAE value the increased control technology brings to their journey and we expect more passengers in the coming years to make the switch to self-service rather than face-to-face transactions.

"Furthermore our survey has shown a substitution effect: once a passenger has made the switch to self-service technology, few want to go back.

"The results make it clear that an investment in technology not only brings greater efficiencies to airports and airlines but passengers are increasingly demanding more self-service technology along their journey.”

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The survey indicated that self-service usage across the country is expected to increase by 36% over the next year, with the majority of passengers choosing to manage their own booking, check-in and boarding using either a kiosk, website or a mobile app.

Demand for mobile self-service options is expected to see a sharp rise in 2017.

A total of 34% of passengers are expected to use mobile booking compared with 15% in 2016, while mobile check-in will increase from 5% in 2016 to 19% in 2017.

In addition, passengers are expressing a demand for new mobile services that provide luggage notifications.

A total of 71% of travellers have requested baggage updates on mobile, while 55% have asked for baggage collection details.