Corporate travel outlook weakest for two decades
London, 29th April 2009
A survey of frequent business travellers projects an overall drop in corporate air travel spend of 7.5% over the next twelve months, according to aerospace specialists Ascend (www.ascendworldwide.com).
The poll found 53% who said their company’s air travel budget was set to drop significantly and 46% expected the number of flights taken would fall significantly.
Ascend surveyed 280 frequent business travellers from over 35 countries about their expected air travel habits over the next year, 60% of whom would typically fly business or first class on long haul.
“This is the weakest outlook for international business travel in nearly 20 years,” says Ascend Chief Economist Peter Morris. “The combination of fewer premium travellers seeking to pay less is a huge challenge for airlines.
“There’s a much higher level of control over corporate travel budgets than in the 90s, with only 20% of business travellers now allowed full freedom to choose whom they will fly with. About 50% of companies now have rigid policies. In terms of corporate strategy for reducing air travel spend, the majority preferred reducing conference-related travel (55%) and the overall number of business trips (53%), using the internet for fares (48%) and using the cheapest available airline (41%).”
More Information
- 280 regular business travellers from around the world responded to the survey.
- 27% said their company’s air travel budget would drop by 10%; 26% said it would drop by 20% or more.
- Some 60% of the respondents normally travel business or first class on long haul.
- 50% of respondents were in Europe, 36% in
- These reflect policies across many large international companies and corporations, not just individual respondents.
