Thursday, August 22, 2024 European companies ramp up business travel with a 1.7% rise in airline ticket spending, signaling a robust rebound in corporate travel, according to AirPlus. European companies have increased business travel in the first half of the year, as highlighted by a recent analysis from corporate payment specialist AirPlus International.
In the first half of the year, European companies ramped up their spending on business travel. Compared to the previous year, airline ticket expenses rose by 1.7 percent between January and June, while the number of tickets sold increased by 1.
6 percent, according to the AirPlus Business Travel Index, which analyzes transactions processed through AirPlus. Interestingly, the UEFA EURO 2024 did not significantly impact travel activities. Only Swiss companies showed a noticeable increase in ticket bookings to Germany during the tournament period (June 14-30), compared to the previous year.
Key developments in the first half of the year include: Bleisure: Blending Business and Leisure The trend of combining business trips with personal time continued to grow, with 16 percent of travelers beginning their trips on weekends, a 0.6 percentage point increase from the previous year. Increased Planning Security Travelers booked flights earlier than in previous years, with an average lead time of 28.
8 days, up from 26.3 days. Companies seem to be securing capacity and prices in advance to enhance planning security.
Female travelers were.