Slight increase in business travel in Europe – but no UEFA EURO effect says AirPlus

NEU-ISENBURG – European companies sent their employees on trips more often again in the first half of the year. This is shown by an analysis by corporate payment expert AirPlus International.

In the first half of the year, European* companies once again spent more money on business travel: Compared to the previous year, spending on airline tickets rose by 1.7 percent between January and June, while the number of tickets sold increased by 1.6 percent. This is shown by the AirPlus Business Travel Index, an analysis of transactions processed via AirPlus.

However, the UEFA EURO 2024 had no significant impact on travel activity. Only Swiss companies booked significantly more tickets to Germany in the period under review (14.06-30.06) than in the previous year (+6.5 percent).

Mads Krumhardt Enggren, CEO of AirPlus International, comments on the results of the AirPlus Business Travel Index: “Face-to-face meetings remain indispensable alongside virtual meetings. Despite adversities such as strikes and cancellations, especially at the beginning of the year, European business travelers were in the air more frequently in the first half of the year than in the previous year. They booked their flights earlier to ensure greater planning security. We are also seeing that the combination of business and private travel is becoming increasingly popular. Especially in times of a shortage of skilled workers, it is crucial for companies to offer their employees flexible working models in order to increase their satisfaction and productivity. The combination of business and private travel is an important building block for retaining talent in the long term.”

All developments in the first half of the year at a glance

Bleisure: business and leisure

The trend of extending business trips with a private stay continued. 16 percent of travelers started their trip on a weekend, which corresponds to an increase of 0.6 percentage points compared to the previous year.

More planning security

On average, travelers booked their flights 28.8 days before departure, more than two days earlier than in the previous year (26.3 days). In this way, companies evidently want to secure capacity and prices early on to ensure greater planning security. Female travelers were more forward-looking than their male counterparts in every market, booking trips almost five days earlier on average (32 vs. 27.2 days).

More travel comfort, longer distances

More travelers opted for flights in Business Class (11.1 vs. 10.8 percent) or Premium Economy (2 vs. 1.8 percent), while Economy Class recorded a decline (86.8 vs. 87.2 percent). This could be related to the fact that passengers were increasingly drawn to distant destinations – 52.7 percent (2023: 52.2 percent) traveled within Europe, while 16.1 percent (2023: 15.6 percent) headed to another continent.

However, the most popular destinations did not change compared to the previous year: In Europe, these were Germany, Spain, and the UK, while in the rest of the world they were the USA, China, and India.

Prices also changed only minimally: The average price for an Economy Class ticket was 526 euros (+1.5 percent), while Business Class tickets cost 3784 euros, 2.1 percent less than in the previous year.

Sustainable travel: fewer domestic flights, longer trips

The proportion of domestic flights in Europe fell from 32.2 percent to 31.3 percent in 2024. The average business trip lasted 5.8 days, similar to 2023 (5.9 days). The proportion of one-day short trips decreased slightly from 6.8 to 6.7 percent.

For some years now, the trend has been towards fewer domestic flights and longer trips. This can be explained by companies’ efforts to achieve greater sustainability. For example, employees often combine various appointments into one longer trip instead of taking several short trips.

*Source: evaluation of AirPlus International’s European core markets (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Italy).