The Impact of Airline Passengers’ Customer Experiences on Their Repeat Choice Intentions

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of airline passengers’ customer experience on their intention to re-select the same airline. The study focuses on arriving and departing passengers on domestic and international routes at Istanbul Airport, a major hub in the Turkish air transport system. Because the total number of arriving and departing passengers between May and August 2025 could not be precisely determined, convenience sampling was employed and face-to-face surveys were administered to 570 passengers at a 95% confidence level. The Customer Experience Scale (7 items, one dimension) and an Intention to Prefer Again Scale (3 items) were used to measure the main constructs. Data were analysed using SPSS 22 and AMOS 22, including confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, mean comparisons (t-test and one-way ANOVA), and path analysis. The findings indicate that passengers generally have positive experiences with their preferred airline and display a high intention to re-select it. Customer experience and re-selection intention differ significantly by gender, age, education level, and travel frequency. Path analysis shows that customer experience has a strong positive effect on repeat choice intention. These results highlight the importance of passenger experience management for airlines and airport operators and suggest that improving experiential attributes of air transport services can support passenger retention and strengthen the competitiveness of Istanbul Airport as an international hub.