Airlines around the world are rushing to bring in new service enhancements as they compete to attract an expanding business traveller market to their flights. A couple of years ago few would have believed this possible. The last financial crisis drove companies to cut travel budgets, and business travel declined considerably. The International Air Transit Assoication (IATA) reported that by February 2009 the number of premium passengers had fallen more than 21% from a year earlier.

But since then business air travel has recovered greatly with companies taking to the air once again. In January this year IATA reported that premium passenger numbers had climbed back 20% from their mid-2009 low, and large airlines such as British Airways and Emirates have reported significant growth in premium traffic.

Airlines around the world are making changes to their services in the hope of attracting a larger share of this expanding business traveller market. Premier airlines are hoping to draw travellers back to premium classes by offering more amenities inflight and at airports. But they’re also facing increased competition from budget airlines who are trying to tempt business travellers with cheaper ticket options.

Delta recently installed full flat-bed seats in the business cabins of its entire Boeing 777 fleet in response to high demand for this service from business people. Similar cabin improvements have been made at other airlines, such as British Airways, which recently completed a revamp of its premium cabins.

“We are constantly looking at ways we can improve our service, particularly to business customers as they constitute much of our regular customer base,” says Michael Johnson, a PR manager at British Airways.

In August, British Airways began to trial the use of iPads by cabin crews. The tablets allow crew members to quickly access detailed information about passenger preferences, something which would be particularly attractive to business travellers who use the same airline frequently.  

While these airlines are offering enhanced inflight services, Emirates hopes to draw business travellers with new ground facilities. It recently opened a first class lounge in Dubai, providing passengers with access to office facilities and showers.

Meanwhile budget airlines are also increasingly competing for a share of the business traveler market. The British-based budget airline EasyJet believes that, rather than improved services, business travellers now want lower airfares.

To win these customers, the airline created a special sales team in June focused on attracting business passengers. This team markets EasyJet flights as an economical alternative for business travellers.  

“Launching an EasyJet style sales force is part of our strategy of increasing business passenger sales,” says Claire Haigh, EasyJet’s Head of UK Sales.   

Alongside this, Easyjet has also introduced a new ‘flexi’ fare. Aimed at business travellers whose plans may change at short notice, this ticket allows flight changes up to two hours before takeoff. The ticket employs other innovations, such as a fast boarding system, designed to make the airline more attractive to the hectic schedules of business travellers.

Southwest Airlines has similarly launched a ‘Business Select’ fare. This offers travellers priority at check-in, security and boarding, along with a free drink on the flight and additional reward points with the airline.

“Business customers are travelling more frequently, and Southwest caters to this customer base through our wallet-friendly ‘Bags Fly Free’ policy, ‘No Change Fees’, and our ‘Business Select Fare’,” says a Southwest spokesperson.

The extensive changes airlines are making indicate how important business travellers are to them. Many airlines are hoping that increasing numbers of business travellers will drive their business in the coming months.

“Most of the major air carriers rely heavily on higher-paying business travellers for revenue growth and international business travellers are particularly lucrative,” said Andrea Stokes, Vice President of Travel and Leisure for Synovate. “The strength of this model will be supported as long as business travel demand is there.”

But this demand is in no way assured. Data from IATA indicates that business people’s willingness to travel is closely linked to their confidence in the economy. Recent debt crises in the U.S. and Eurozone have caused business confidence to plummet, suggesting that the growing demand for business travel might also stall.

“With business and consumer confidence now tanking, sluggishness in international trade, and high fuel prices, the expectation is for a weaker end to the year,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

However, Stokes believes the outlook for business travel is more positive, arguing that with business confidence currently close to rock bottom there can now only be positive movement.

“Given the weak economic environment in the US and Europe right now, business travel demand has nowhere to go but up in the next few years assuming a full economic recovery gets under way in the short-term,” she said.

When this recovery takes hold, those airlines that have made changes will be well placed to ride the economic upturn and attract the growing numbers of business travellers it brings.

For more information, please contact Andrea Stokes, Vice President of Travel and Leisure for Synovate at andrea.stokes@synovate.com