Future air travel: Airports with spas, art galleries

NEW DELHI: Use of smartphones to plan and book flights, travel to remote destinations and airports with spas and art galleries -- these could be features of future air travel.

These are among a series of findings of leading travel company Lonely Planet, which has tied up with International Air Transport Association ( IATA) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of commercial air travel.

According to Lonely Planet's team of travel experts, holiday makers are set to demand more 'unplugged travel' and secret escapes as the fast pace of modern life continues to grow and air travel becoming "part of everyday life".

With forecasts that 6.6 billion passengers will fly worldwide by 2032, growing 4.4 per cent annually from 2014, IATA chief Tony Tyler said, "100 years after the first passenger flew on a scheduled flight, the predictions from Lonely Planet clearly show that millions more people are set to enjoy the opportunity to travel and particularly travel by air, as the world becomes a smaller and more accessible place than ever before."

Among the other predictions of the Lonely Planet are 'green travel' hitting the new generation of travellers big time, competition among airlines improving flying experience, faster and cheaper flights making travellers take advantage of global calendar of events.

Travellers can now plan their travels from the comfort of their laptop, exploring on Google Streetview before seeing it for real, according to the travel company's findings.