BOSSES AT TRAVEL PAYMENT company AirPlus International said a recovery in the corporate travel sector had started. But while road warriors are digging out their suitcases, the German-based firm warned that the landscape of business travel had changed, possibly forever.
In a meeting with press at the company's UK headquarters, chief executive Patrick Diemer said airlines may be wise to close Business Class cabins altogether, though his remarks were made slightly tongue-in-cheek.
According to AirPlus figures, the average cost of an air fare in January this year was up £6 year-on-year to £405, a slight improvement. But transaction volumes had risen "significantly" during the first three months of 2010, Diemer said.
Diemer revealed that about 50 per cent of the company's existing customers had either stopped or decreased travelling, while the other half had the same volume of trips but were looking for the cheapest possible tickets. He said the decline in business travel was caused by both less travel and lower ticket prices. "The UK recession hit earlier and left earlier," Diemer said. "But I fear they [corporates] will keep revised travel policies intact even if the economy improves. So Business Class will not return. If it keeps going the way it is, I think they can close Business Class."
In spite of the apparent doom and gloom, AirPlus was still able to turn a handsome profit in 2009, albeit after some aggressive cost cutting. "We cut as much as we could in areas such as communications, but we are very proud to say that we did not have to make any redundancies," Diemer said. AirPlus is to launch a purchasing card in partnership with Invapay Payment Solutions at the end of June.