With business travel poised to continue growing globally, prices are expected to rise 11 pc, says a survey by Australian business travel firm FCM.

Business travel has seen gradual consistent trip growth in Q1 2024, a trend forecast to continue into Q2, says study by Australian travel service firm FCM Consulting.

According to FCM’s Global Quarterly Trend Report, on average, globally, ticket prices in the economy were 11 pc above the same month in 2019 before the pandemic. But encouragingly, flight costs in the same class had dropped 16 pc compared to January 2021.

The statement adds that this quarterly trend report draws on global data from FCM Travel and FCTG corporate booking data for travel from January to March 2024 (Q1-2024). The report uses Cirium aviation schedule data as at April 16.

Managing Director of FCM Travel India, Sunny Sodhi says that pricing for travel remained strong as demand incrementally grew in 2024.

“Global inflation is estimated to be at 5.9 pc in 2024, unemployment rates are trending lower, and consumer confidence is returning once again. Generally, the global economy has been resilient against increases in interest rates, and with the economic outlook being somewhat positive for the remaining year, corporate budgets are increasing with confidence and enabling steady business travel trends,” Sodhi adds.

“Pricing will remain strong in most locations as demand grows throughout the year, but it needs to be kept in mind that several geopolitical conflicts will continue to bring a level of uncertainty to the global economy,” he says.

The report highlights that stable booking volumes in Q1, 2024 means corporate travel demand remained steady and there was now less guesswork for the industry, including airlines, hotels, and car hire, regarding that demand they could now rely on consistent volumes.

“Travellers continue to tightly manage budgets for the remainder of the year with early bookings and more days away. The average advanced booking days have increased to 23.3 and the average days away have also lifted to 4.4, unsurprising, given the continued business ‘bleisure’ trend,” he adds.

“Monthly seats offered from May to December 2024 have been forecasted to an average rise of 3.6 pc or up 17.8 million above 2019 monthly averages, with 2024 scheduling continuing to signal supply confidence across five of the seven global regions,” says FCM in its survey.

“The forecast for seats offered across top corporate global airlines in 2024 is set to be six per cent above 2019, with the number of flights offered down 1 pc, top corporate airlines globally show that low-cost carriers (LCC) are also performing well. Interestingly, LCCs will represent 31 per cent of global seats offered in 2024. That is a one per cent increase versus 2019 – with 28 per cent of all flights offered also being on an LCC carrier, again a rise of 1 pc,” Sodhi adds.