LOW-cost carriers are increasingly muscling in on the corporate travel market, according to a survey of 2,000 business travellers by Company Barclaycard.
In this year’s survey, only 40% of respondents said larger all-frills airlines offer better service and quality, compared with 53% in the 1997/98 poll. Business travellers aged between 41 and 50 were the biggest fans of no-frills airlines, with 56% believing they offer a better quality and service.
Company Barclaycard marketing manager Simon Chick said low-cost carriers are becoming more popular as companies are forced to cut their travel budgets.
“Cost is certainly an overriding factor,” he said. “I think we can put that down to the fact that in 1998, the recession has been hanging over a lot of businesses.”
But in a seminar at Business Travel ’99, British Airways no-frills subsidiary Go claimed it could not survive in the business sector just by offering low fares. Go sales and marketing director David Magliano said: “That would mean price is the only differentiating factor between airlines and I totally reject that. I will not accept a poorer quality meal just because I have a lower budget.”
He listed safety, reliability and punctuality, use of the main airports as used by major carriers, and image as key factors. “Research shows clients are not comfortable with the tacky image low-cost carriers have used to set themselves apart,” he added.
Magliano said a survey of 1,008 Go passengers showed 25% are business travellers, and the figure rises to 40% on some routes from Stansted to Milan and Edinburgh. Of the total business travellers, 85% had chosen to fly with Go, and 45% were using a no-frills airline for the first time.