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 particularly proactive, booking trips nearly five days earlier on average than their male counterparts (32 vs. 27.2 days).
Enhanced Travel Comfort and Longer Distances A growing number of travelers opted for higher comfort classes, with Business Class bookings rising to 11.1 percent from 10.8 percent and Premium Economy increasing to 2 percent from 1.
8 percent. Economy Class bookings saw a slight decline to 86.8 percent from 87.
2 percent. This trend may be linked to the increasing number of trips to distant destinations—52.7 percent within Europe and 16.
1 percent to other continents, both slightly higher than the previous year. Despite these shifts, the most popular travel destinations remained consistent: Germany, Spain, and the UK within Europe, and the USA, China, and India globally. Pricing saw minimal changes: The average Economy Class ticket cost 526 euros, up 1.
5 percent, while Business Class tickets averaged 3,784 euros, down 2.1 percent from the previous year. Sustainable Travel: Fewer Domestic Flights, Longer Trips The share of domestic flights in Europe decreased to 31.
3 percent in 2024, down from 32.2 percent. The average business trip lasted 5.
8 days, similar to the previous year’s 5.9 days. One-day short trips slightly decreased from 6.
8 percent to 6.7 percent. This ongoing trend towards fewer domestic flights and longer trips reflects companies’ efforts to enhance sustainability.
Employees increasingly combine multiple appointments into a single extended trip rather than taking several short ones..
