The Covid-19 pandemic has severely limited business travel around the world, but there are now more and more signs of recovery.
In Europe, business travel bookings are rising again, and in China, at least within the country, even more people are now traveling than before the pandemic. This was revealed in a recent study by AirPlus International.
Growing number of domestic flights in China
Accordingly, the number of flights performed within China in the first five months of this year was 9.5% more than in the previous 2019. Compared to 2020, this has more than tripled.
The most popular were flights between Shanghai and Beijing, which accounted for a total of 7% of domestic business trips, followed by flights between Shenzhen and Shanghai with a total of 6%.
China was the first to suffer from the pandemic, but also the first to contain the spread of the virus last year. Since then, the number of patients has remained low, and travel, at least within the country, has returned to normal.
However, there are differences compared to 2019. Orders are still much more spontaneous than before the pandemic. If in 2019 an average of 5.8 days passed between booking and departure, even for domestic flights, then from January to May this year – only 3.8 days.
On the other hand, business trips currently take less time than in 2019. If two years ago between departure and arrival at the starting point for domestic flights was 4, 3 days, today it is only 3, 8 days.
There are still strict restrictions on travel abroad, so, despite the exceptionally good development of the country, travel to other countries is almost non-existent. However, figures from China show that companies are sending their employees on business trips again, if possible.
The general trend in the world
And this seems to be a general trend, given that 80% of respondents consider personal contact with customers and suppliers indispensable. The level of approval in China, 80%, was exactly the same as in Germany, Italy or France.
In the US, 86% agreed, while in the UK, companies rely slightly less on personal contacts. However, even there, just under three out of four business leaders find face-to-face meetings with clients necessary.
So it is logical that travel in Europe is gaining momentum again. In May this year, only European customers made a third more flights by air than a month earlier, and this number increased almost fivefold compared to the same month last year.
There was a disproportionately strong growth of domestic flights, namely by almost 50% compared to April.
Germany is a clear confirmation of this trend in Europe, as German business travelers flew 38.5% more than in the previous month. There was also a demand for flights to other European countries, an increase of 52.3%.
However, Europe is still far from pandemic figures. In May, the total number of flights of business travelers to Europe was about a tenth compared to 2019. However, booking data show that demand will rise significantly again in the coming months.