Business air travel is picking up

Bangalore: Early this year, when Indian companies felt the tremors of the global economic meltdown and embarked on a cost-cutting drive, business travel by air was one of the first few expenses to be struck off the list. This had badly hit Anoop Kanuga, who owns a travel firm in Mumbai. His airline ticket bookings for business clients plunged to new lows.
The downward trend in domestic business travel continued for most of last year and the first half of 2009. However, over the last one month, Kanuga has witnessed a gradual pick-up in corporate spend on air travel.
Kanuga says there has also been an increase in the number of professionals such as doctors and lawyers boarding aircraft. Kanuga's travel agency Bathija Travels has seen corporate bookings go up 15% in September and October compared with earlier months of this year.
Ankur Bhatia, managing director of Amadeus, a company that provides technology and distribution solutions to travel companies, confirmed the trend. He said growth in business air travel mirrored the overall growth in air passenger traffic in the domestic market.
A Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson said, in contrast to a few months back, his airline was registering around 80-90% occupancy in the business class during peak hours on metro routes.Load factors on business and first class had dipped to less than 50% during the peak of downturn in the airline industry.
28/11/09 Praveena Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Nov 2009