Baptism of flight for increasingly young travelers

From generation X, which flew for the first time around the age of 36 (born between 1965 and 1980), to the very young of generation Alpha, who take off as early as 5 years old (born from 2013 onwards). In the middle are Millennials, with an average age of first flight of 21 years (1981-1996), and Generation Z, who started flying at 14 (1997-2012). These are the average ages at which the last four generations of Italians have taken their first plane. 

 

The survey by Fattorie Garofalo, a world leader in the production of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO with a network of points of sale in the main Italian airports, has shown a significant change: in five decades, the average age of the first flight has dropped by 31 years, from 36 years of Generation X to 5 years of Generation Alpha.

 

The survey, which involved a sample of 1200 people in transit during the summer at Italian airports and divided equally among the four generations examined, also revealed that the destinations and motivations for the first flight were often similar between the different generations. For Millennials (59% of cases) and Generation Z (47%), the first flight was often linked to study reasons, such as participation in Erasmus/Leonardo programs, school trips or the celebration of a milestone, with European destinations as the most frequent.

 

In stark contrast, Generation X flew mainly for work or family reasons (58%), with half of the flights direct outside the European Union. For the Alpha generation, on the other hand, the plane has become a normal part of life, thanks to the availability of increasingly widespread and optimized flights, with the first trip having a domestic destination in 60% of cases.