INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER

SATISFACTION SURVEY

OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS

AIRPORT AND AIRCARGO COMPLEX

KEMPEGOWDA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KIA)

BENGALURU

CONDUCTED BY
AIMS INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
ON BEHALF OF BENGALURU CUSTOMS
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
The office of the Principal Commissioner of Customs,
Airport and Aircargo Complex engaged the services of
AIMS Institute of Higher Education, a premier B-school in
Karnataka to conduct a survey on ‘International
Passenger Satisfaction Survey’ with respect to Customs
Clearance Process at Kempegowda International Airport
(KIA), Bengaluru.

Senior Faculty from the AIMS Institute of Higher

Education conducted the survey that was spread over a
period of fifteen days from 12th to 26th September, 2016.
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
OBJECTIVE:
To assess the International Passenger satisfaction
levels with respect to Customs Clearance Process at
Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru with
focus on three main aspects:
Information
Process
Behavior
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY

METHODOLOGY:
Research was descriptive in nature
Primary data was collected through a structured
questionnaire.
Questionnaire was prepared in English, French and
Japanese languages to cater to the requirements of
international passengers.

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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
KIA INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS
ARRIVALS & DEPARTURES : 2015-16
4000000

3500000 33,68,224

3000000

2500000
Total
2000000 Arrivals
1500000 Departures
1000000 16,90,245

500000
16,77,979
0
2015-16

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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
KIA INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS
ARRIVALS & DEPARTURES:
FROM APRIL TO AUG 2015 & 2016
1800000
1526729
1600000
1358446
1400000
1200000
766759
1000000
759970
800000
678572
679874
600000
400000
200000
0
Total Arrivals Departures

April to Aug 2015 April to Aug 2016

Number of international passengers arriving in KIA increased by 13% and that of departures
by 12% for the period April to August 2016 ( Five Months) as compared to the corresponding
period of the previous year.
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS ARRIVED IN KIA, BENGALURU
2015-16
11230

31 FLIGHTS PER DAY

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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
SAMPLE SIZE:
Sample size of the survey : 1184 Pax
Accepted : 1074 Pax
Rejected : 110 Pax
1200
110
1000

800

600 Rejected
1074
Accepted
400

200

0
Sample Size
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY

SAMPLE VARIETY:
Sample represented many-
Demographics
Nationalities
Profession

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INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
QUESTIONNAIRE LANGUAGES:

国際旅客満足度調査

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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY

ANALYTICAL SOFTWARE UTILIZED :

IBM-SPSS Software used for data analysis

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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
CONSTRAINTS:
International Passengers were tired after a
long haul flight and this may to a little extent
affect the quality of input.
International Air Passengers from the People’s
Republic of China, South Korea, Germany and
Russia also filled the questionnaires in English
with assistance from the research team.

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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY

TO ADDRESS INCONSISTENT DATA

Simulation technique was adopted to address

the gaps in the data.

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First Respondent Mr. Kevin Faichuk , Canada –With the survey team
CUSTOMS SURVEY IN PROGRESS

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CUSTOMS SURVEY IN PROGRESS

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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
Overall Satisfaction Level of
experience with Bengaluru 5%
8%
Customs at Kempegowda
International Airport:

By and large, the international

passengers applauded their
experience with the Bengaluru
87%
Customs.
87% of the passengers said they
Satisfied Average Dissatisified
were satisfied with the level of
experience with Bengaluru
Customs.
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
RESPONDENTS PROFILE:
Gender: Male 78%, Female:22%
Foreign Nationals: 45%, Returning and Resident
Indians:45%, NRIs:10%
Purpose of Visit: Personnel Work: 50%, Official
Work:33%, Tourists:17%
17%
10%
22%

45%
50%

45%
33%

78%

Foreign Nationals
Returning and Resident Indians Personal Work Official Tourism
Males Females 22
NRIs
 20 10
20
10

60
10
80 30

70

30

70 09

08 10

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INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER SATISFACTION SURVEY

DEMOGRAPHY OF FOREIGN NATIONALS 23
INERNATIONAL AIRLINES PASSENGERS SURVEYED
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美轲（广州）化学股份有限公司

SNAP SHOT OF TOP EXECUTIVES OF GLOBAL FIRMS

WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE SURVEY 25
SNAP SHOT OF TOP EXECUTIVES OF GLOBAL FIRMS
WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE SURVEY 26
 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
RESPONDENTS PROFILE:
Age Group: 18-25:12%, 25-45:68%, 45-65:18% &
65 and above: 2%
Education: Post Graduation: 42%, Engineers: 34%,
Medical Doctors:5%, UG/Trade: 19%
80%

70% 19%
68%
60%
5% 42%
50%

40%

30%
34%
20%
18%
10%
12% 2% Post Graduation Engineering
0%
18-25 25-45 45-65 65 and Above Medical Doctors Graduates and Others
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY

RESPONDENTS PROFILE:
Frequency of Travel to Bengaluru: More than three
Visits in a Year : 49%, Once in a Year:31%, Occasional
Travel:20%
20%
More than 3 Visits
in a Year
49%
Once in a Year

31%
Occasional Travel

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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
ACCESSED WEBSITE
The study found that lack of
information awareness had a
47%
direct impact on the Yes

international passenger
satisfaction levels No 53%

Only 43% of the passengers 44% 46% 48% 50% 52% 54%

were found to be accessing the

Indian Customs website. 45%
55%

Nearly 55% of the respondents

were either partially aware or
were totally unaware of the
customs rules and regulations. Partially Aware/ Totally Unaware
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Fully Aware
 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
Need to know about Customs
Rules?
40% felt the need to know about 40%

customs rules while planning 20%

their travel and ticketing, 20% 15%

while shopping overseas, 15%

12%
while doing their security check
and 12% while shopping at the 13%

airport duty free shop.

Surprisingly nearly 13% Planning Travel & Ticketing
Shopping Overseas

scrambled through the customs During Security Check

Shopping at Duty Free Shop
website while waiting for Waiting for Immigration Clearance

immigration clearance.
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
Customs Website Rating:
69%
69% of those passengers who
had accessed the customs
website said it was adequate
and up-to-date.
18% opined that the website
was of average quality and 18%
13%
nearly 13% felt that the website
did not contain adequate
information on the Indian Adequate Average Inadequate

Customs.
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
Reaction of passengers to
Customs Officials Enquiry on
dutiable items: 8%

16%
Nearly 50% of the passengers
26%
consulted their family and friends,
26% social media, 16% their travel 50%

agents and 8% Embassy of their

Home Country, when the customs 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

officials approached the Home Country Embassy Travel Agents

passengers to enquire about any Social Media Family and Friends

dutiable items being carried by

them that needs to be assessed.
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
Improvements in the customs 60%

clearance process over the years: 56%

50%

56% of the respondents said that 40%

clearance process had improved

30%
considerably, 12% said that there
was a sustained improvement, 10% 20% 22%

were of the view that there was

10%
only a marginal improvement, 12%
10%

while shockingly a substantial 0%

Improved Sustained Marginal No Opinion
number of 22% of respondents said Considerably Improvement Improvement on the
Process
they had no opinion on the
process.
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
53%

Withdrawal of Baggage
52%
Declaration Form: 52%

51%
Only 52% of the passengers were
aware that the Baggage 50%
Declaration Form had been
withdrawn by the Customs 49%

Department as part of the

48%
ongoing simplification process. 48%

47%
However, a vast majority of them
comprising 86% of the 46%
Aware Unaware
respondents had welcomed the
move. 34
 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
Nearly 2/3rds of the passengers attached greater significance to:
Prior information on customs rules and procedures
Efficient and ease of process in customs clearance
Transparent process in calculating the dutiable amount

Prior Information Efficient & Ease of Process Transparent Process

70% 66% 80%
69%
Information
60% 70% 70% 66%
50% 60% 60%
50% 50%
40%
31% 40%
30% 40%
30% 30%
30% 30%
20%
20% 20%
10% 3% 10% 10% 4%
1%
0% 0% 0%
Extremely Important Average Extremely Important Average Extremely Important Average
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Important Importance Important Importance Important Importance
 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
Passengers mindset and feelings 80%
74%
while going through the Customs 70%

Clearance Process:
60%

74% of the passengers felt that

50%
going through the customs
clearance process is always safe 40%

and secure. 30%

Only a small percentage of the

20% 18%
passengers representing 8% of the
respondents felt nervous and 10% 8%

anxious. 0%
About 18% were totally indifferent Safe and Secure Nervous and
Anxious
Indifferent
Attitude

to the customs clearance process. 36

 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
Preferred Source of Information:
100%

88%
88% of the passengers had 90%

preferred to source information 80%

70%
about the Indian Customs through
60%
the Mobile Apps
50%
Only a small percentage of 12% 40%
preferred Display Boards and Help 30%

Desk 20%
12%
Passengers in general preferred 10%

web optimization and enhanced 0%

Mobile Apps Display Boards/Help
use of social media platforms by Desks

the Indian Customs.

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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
Threshold Time for Customs Clearance:
70% of the passengers arriving in KIA had the clarity to choose either the
Green channel or Red channel to complete the customs formalities
Threshold time for Green Channel Passengers was up to 15 minutes and that
of the Red Channel Passengers was about 30 minutes
However, majority of the passengers comprising 92% were of the opinion
that the time taken for customs clearance process was realistic and
reasonable.
80% 35 100% 92%
70%
70% 30 MIn 90%
30
80%
60%
25 70%
50% 60%
20
40% 50%
30% 15 MIn
30% 15 40%
30%
20% 10 20%
10% 8%
10%
5
0% 0%
Clear in Choice of Uncertain 0 Realistic and Unreasonable
38 Time
Channel Green Channel Red Channel Reasonable Time
 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
80%
70%
Assessment of customs duty on 70%
60%

imported items: 50%

40%
70% of the passengers said that it 30%
30%

was self- assessed by them and the 20%

10%
remaining 30% said it was assessed 0%
Self Assessed Assessed by Customs
by the customs officers. Officers

As regards the amount of customs 60%

54%

duty payable, 54% said it was 50%

deemed appropriate, 36% were not 40% 36%

sure about the duty levied and only 30%

about 10% of the passengers 20%

10%
10%
complained that excess duty was
0%
collected. Deemed Unsure of Duty Complain of
Appropriate Amount Excess39
Duty
 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY

Personal Opinion about Customs Eye Contact 8%

Officials:

45% said they were respectful Courteous 20%

21% said they were fair

20% said they were courteous Fair 21%
Only 8% said they maintained
eye contact with the passengers
Respectful 45%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
Verbal Communication of Customs 90%

78%
Officials: 80%

Verbal and non -verbal behavioral 70%

cues of the Customs Officer 60%

influences the perception and 50%

hence the satisfaction levels of the 40%

Passengers. 30%

78% of the passengers described 20%

19%

them as dutiful and well-mannered 10%

3%
19% said they were helpful 0%
Dutiful & Well Helpful Unfriendly
3% said they were unfriendly Mannered

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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY

88% of the passengers said

they did not face any 12%
difficulty in customs
clearance
88%
12% said they had faced
difficulty in customs
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
clearance

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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY

70% 60%
REACHING OUT TO
CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT 60%

40%
50%
NO

40%
As a happy note to the
ending of the survey, 40% of 30%
YES

the passengers furnished 20%

their contact particulars and 10%

said that the customs

0%
department could reach out
to them for support.
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY

SUGGESTIONS:

The study found that lack of information awareness had a direct

impact on the international passenger satisfaction levels.
Areas where major improvements are expected by the
international passengers include access and availability of
information, speed of process, greater transparency of duty
assessment process and in particular Electronic Items, TV and
Jewellery.
There is a need to conduct regular training programmes for the
Travel and Ticketing Agencies in the country in association with
IATA and brief the Agents on Customs Rules and Regulations.
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY

SUGGESTIONS (Contd. 1):

Customs Department to attach greater significance about prior

information on customs rules and procedures, efficient and ease
of process in customs clearance and transparent process in
calculating the dutiable amount to be levied on the imported
goods.

Withdrawal of Baggage Declaration Form has to be prominently

displayed both at the Customs Arrival Area and also in the
Customs website.
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
SUGGESTIONS (Contd. 2):

Customs Department needs to optimize its website

Department to enhance its use of social media platforms

Threshold time for Red Channel Passengers to be brought down

suitably.

Apart from sourcing customs information through Web Apps, the

app should have a passenger friendly inbuilt duty calculator for
the import of various items and also a currency convertor suitable
for any device.
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
SUGGESTIONS (Contd. 3):

Customs Department needs to post more number of Lady officers

in the night to address the issue of gender sensitivity.

Verbal and non -verbal behavioral cues of the Customs Officer

influences the perception and hence the satisfaction levels of the
Passengers. The Department officials to be continuously trained
in the management of behavioral skills particularly in the areas of
managing crucial conversation, tone of communication, gender
sensitization and emotional intelligence.

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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
SUGGESTIONS (Contd. 4):

Department to review the possibility of payment of assessed duty

amount at the designated bank counter of State Bank of India
and make provision for alternative facility to pay duty by credit or
debit card and also accept foreign exchange rate differential.

Provision for ATM to be installed within the Customs Area to

facilitate the ease of process

Dedicated customs clearance channel for those international

passengers who have connecting domestic flights to board be
explored by the Customs Department.
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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY

SUGGESTIONS (Contd. 5):

Pre-arrival self-calculation / assessment and payment of Customs

Duty levied will ease the Customs Clearance process at the KIAB,
which in turn would lead to raising satisfaction levels of
international Passengers.

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 INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
AIMS TEAM OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS:

Dr KIRAN REDDY, PROFESSOR & PRINCIPAL

Dr SHERI KURIAN, PROFESSOR & REGISTRAR
Dr SOMANATH V S, PROFESSOR & DIRECTOR-CONSULTING
Dr JAYAPRAKASH REDDY, PROFESSOR & DIRECTOR- RESEARCH
Dr SAURABH SRIVASTAVA, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
Ms. BHAGYALAKSHMI, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Mr. SARAVANAKUMAR V, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Mr. VIVEK K, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

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INTERNATIONAL PASSSENGER
SATISFACTION SURVEY
A BIG THANKS TO THE CUSTOMS TEAM

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