Corporate flight bookings are set to increase in 2012, as the travel industry experiences a growth phase.
AirPlus International Inc, a US-based company that provides a suite of business travel payment solutions, has reported an 11 percent increase in flight bookings for corporate travel in the first three months of 2012.
The company has announced that it is expects the upward trend to continue in the next few months of 2012.
Patrick Diemer, the company managing director, said, ‘These figures are proof of the confidence most businesses have that travelling is relevant to their development, especially in view of the ongoing crisis in the Euro zone. The answers promote the assumption that the business sector has recognised the need to invest in travelling even in bad times to tap new business opportunities in a broader market.
On a global scale, the business flight volume in 2011 was 6 percent higher than in the previous year, and our corporate customers spent 18 percent more money on business travel in total than in 2010.’
The company reports that its research has indicated 54 percent of companies, using its cards, anticipate travel volumes to be showing a growth of around 30 percent in 2012, compared to the preceding year.
The company had previously reported a first quarter operational sales revenue of €284 million, an increase of round 6 percent from €269 million reported in 2010 to last year. The company has also reported an increase in customers from 35,000 in the 2010 first quarter, to 38,000 over the same period in 2011.
