Quantifying passenger acceptance of behavioural incentives in sustainable aviation: a discrete choice experiment

Abstract

The aviation industry faces increasing pressure to decarbonize as air traffic growth outpaced past efficiency gains. Sustainable Aviation Fuels could reduce emissions, yet adoption remains limited due to currently high costs and infrastructure constraints. As such technological progress alone will not achieve short-term results, behavioural interventions, particularly those targeting passenger choices, characterize an underrepresented lever. Existing research has focused mainly on nudges, while incentive mechanisms remain largely unexplored. This study empirically investigates the impact of incentives on passengers' willingness to choose more cost intensive sustainable flight options. Building on previous qualitative findings, a large-scale Discrete Choice Experiment with 1250 recent passengers from the DACH region quantifies trade-offs between green premiums and incentive packages. Hypotheses predict that time saving and socially visible rewards increase uptake better than monetary incentives. The present study aims to identify how incentive-based interventions can enhance voluntary climate engagement in air travel and complement ongoing regulatory and technological efforts.