EasyJet has followed its move into the package holiday market with a new push on business travel that will see increased availability of fares from the UK’s biggest carrier on global distribution systems.
The carrier has no plans to extend GDS availability to agents selling solely leisure travel, but moves to woo business travel agents will benefit those with a mix of corporate and leisure clients.
EasyJet chief executive Carolyn McCall told Travel Weekly that GDS leisure bookings “are not our area of focus”, but added: “There are agents who sell both.”
The airline has been available on GDSs for four years, but only through travel management firms.
GDS booking figures remain low despite 18% of corporate travellers being easyJet passengers.
Speaking at an Institute of Travel and Meetings conference in Oxfordshire on Wednesday, McCall said: “We need to offer more access by standard distribution channels.”
EasyJet recently introduced a flexible fare for corporate travellers and is trialling a fast-track security lane at Glasgow airport.
It has also recruited a corporate sales team and McCall did not rule out corporate deals, saying: “Our price is our discount, but we are willing to talk direct. We have shifted our position.”
She said: “We are serious about the corporate market. We know what we need to do better.”
The business travel push comes alongside the recent launch of easyJet Holidays, the carrier’s joint venture with the Lowcost Holiday Group. McCall said: “There is a cluster of people who like the equivalent of a package holiday, a leisure customer who likes to have everything booked, but who wants flexibility.
“It is a new proposition and we have to explain what it is. We are not saying we are the new Thomas Cook, but we might get some of the big two’s customers.”