British Airways flew a normal service on Tuesday and Wednesday after cabin crew called off a strike, but did so with flights two-thirds empty.
The airline said about 24,000 of the 77,000 originally booked to travel on Tuesday did so after it reinstated 1,300 previously cancelled flights
Many leisure travellers accepted refunds or booked later dates, but business travellers frequently needed to rebook.
Advantage business travel director Norman gage said: “A lot of travel management companies spent a lot of time and effort rebooking BA clients, with no reward from the airline and no thanks.”
But he said finding alternative flights had not been difficult: “The other airlines were like sharks around a body.”
The deal that settled the dispute included an inflation-busting 4.6% pay rise for cabin crew.