The report also notes that the end of 2023 closed a milestone year for the industry, “resulting in the busiest and least interrupted year for business travel in over four years.”
Traveller confidence continues to trend up, increasing the likelihood of even more trips booked in the year ahead, despite rising costs across the airline, hotel, and car rental market.
The report highlighted a key trend that is set to continue for 2024 – more seats with less flights – as global air travel capacity is expected to surpass annual capacity levels from 2018 and 2019.
As a result of fleet configuration changes and shifts in schedules to meet demand, the global forecast for H1-24 is that there will be +97.9 million (+3.5%) more seats and -2.1 million (-5.6%) fewer flights offered, compared to H1-19.
Regionally, the forecast for North America is predicting that there will be +7% more seats and 7% less flights offered.
“It’s shaping up to be another big year for business travel with travellers eager to get back on the road and airlines expected to increase seat capacity, especially in North America,” said Ashley Gutermuth, Head of FCM Consulting, Americas. “And with the busy year ahead, it’s essential that travel managers prioritize communication in order to support their travellers and ensure they have a clear understanding of industry changes, which could also result in changes to policy.”
Gutermuth also noted that despite the increased seat capacity, businesses will still have to potentially reset their budgets as travel costs are projected to increase across the industry by
approximately 3%.
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