The Impact of Airport Physical Environment on Perceived Safety and Domestic Travel Intention of Chinese Passengers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Passenger Satisfaction

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has become an important new research topic, has exerted a huge impact on airports and the antecedents of passengers' travel decisions following its outbreak. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the influences of four attributes of airport physical environment (facility functionality, facility aesthetics, layout accessibility, and cleanliness) on passengers' perceived safety, satisfaction, and travel intention, as well as the mediating role of passenger satisfaction. We built a structural equation model to assume the relationship between these variables. A total of 398 domestic travelers were asked to fill out a survey in order to reveal their perceptions of airport physical environment, perceived safety, satisfaction, and travel intention. The results indicate that passengers with positive perceptions of the facility functionality, layout accessibility, and cleanliness of airports had a higher degree of satisfaction and might be more willing to engage in more air travel in the future. In particular, a clean airport environment significantly improved passengers' perceived safety. Moreover, facility functionality, layout accessibility, cleanliness, and perceived safety all had an effect on travel intention through the mediating role of satisfaction. Overall, these findings offer suggestions for airport authorities aiming to revive demand for air travel. Discussions about airport physical environment improvements along with limitations and suggestions for future research are provided.