Business travellers are switching from business to economy class and using less flexible fares in a bid to reduce travel costs.
According to new HRG air data, 2013 saw business travellers from the UK to other European destinations increasingly booking economy fare trips, with a 35% switch from business class to economy, year on year – especially on journeys of four hours or less.
From the UK, these were on flights to Sweden (61%), Netherlands (43%) and Norway (42%) with Italy and Switzerland also witnessing a drop of over 40%.
For those businesses continuing to make business class bookings, HRG has seen an 8% move towards more restrictive tickets, in a bid to keep costs down.
As a result of the general overall shift from business to economy Class, almost 60% of the top 50 air routes from the UK have seen a drop in average ticket price in the period from January 2012 to December 2013.
Matthew Pancaldi, Global Client Management Director at HRG, said: "Our latest trends have really demonstrated the benefits of considering a change to the determined use of cabin class.
"As we see a growing number of premium economy alternatives available from carriers this will provide a welcome addition to the cabin class conundrum some clients face."
