Carlson Wagonlit Travel has posted better than expected results for the first half of 2010, recording an eight per cent rise in both air and rail transactions year on year.
The travel management company also saw transatlantic travel increase by 30 per cent and overall longhaul travel rise by 22 per cent. Domestic air travel, however, fell by five per cent, perhaps reflecting a general shift to rail travel within the UK, or simply the series of testing circumstances that the industry has faced so far in 2010.
“It has been an encouraging year thus far, even with snow, strikes and ash,” says Nigel Turner, CWT’s director of public sector and industry affairs. “We predicted the year to be flat, but we have seen business travel coming back.”
Turner adds, “In profile by sector we are seeing an almost reversal year on year. Public sector expenditure is in decline, with corporate spend starting to return to 2008 levels.”
There is also evidence for a return to the front of the plane, with overall longhaul business class bookings up 33 per cent and premium economy up 28 per cent. Growth in premium bookings was particularly high on transatlantic routes, where business class was up 40 per cent and premium economy up 41 per cent.
First class rail travel bookings were down six per cent in Q2 across CWT’s top 20 destinations, though overall rail travel is faring better, says Turner, citing London and the five city pairs of Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paris and Brussels.
“We are seeing the continuation of the trend of modal shift. Overall transactions are up in Q2, but looking at the split, air transactions are down on all five routes while rail is up. This is a trend that we have seen, tied into the decline of domestic UK air bookings, and one we predict that will continue, particularly given the plans of the coalition government.”
