Business travel sector still hurting

Bucking the trend to cut down on in-flight provisions for business and first class passengers, British Airways recently announced a purely-business flight to New York from London. With a limited number of seats, the flight offers fully-reclining seating, wireless Internet, and other features intended to lure the business traveller.

However, recent reports show that business travel is still sluggish, and British Airways may struggle to make the new flight really “take-off” among travellers.

IT and electronic communications seem to be reaping the benefits of the slowdown, says a survey conducted by Verband Deutsches Reisemanagement e.V. (VDR). Video conferencing and mobile communications, previously only used as aids, are now becoming the new way to do business.

Business owners and conglomerates have cut down their executive travel budgets in the face of the recession, and where businessmen are sill travelling, they have often chosen to fly economy. Companies are now unwilling to splash on travel-frills, where they are willing to allow travel at all, and this has affected the first and business class cabins greatly.

A number of airlines have come up with a slightly upgraded version of the economy class. Not as frilly–or expensive–as the traditional business and first class, these higher-economy seats offer passengers more legroom, wider seats and some other comforts for a few more pounds.

With IT and electronics seemingly ruling the roost just now, some analysts are saying it will be a long time before business travel returns to pre-recession levels–if it ever does.