Business Class for $20,000 Means Staff Fly Coach or Not at All
Companies are rethinking travel because of sky-high airfares - Airlines are reliant on business-class passengers for profits
Flying business class has always been beyond the means of most fliers. Now even companies can’t afford fares that have soared as the world tries to reconnect in the wake of Covid.
A return business-class flight on the longest routes, between New York and Sydney, for example, can cost more than $20,000, about double the price from pre-pandemic days.
“Demand is clearly outstripping supply,” said Nick Vournakis, executive vice president at corporate travel management firm CWT. “At some point, corporates are going to say enough is enough.”
Tight Travel Market
As Covid restrictions eased around the world, airlines struggled to reactivate their fleets and bring back staff fast enough to cope with the growing appetite for air travel. That’s limited capacity and seat availability. Higher fuel costs have also pushed up fares.
According to CWT and the Global Business Travel Association, business-class air fares will be up 45% in 2022 and another 6.2% next year. Business-class tickets for flights leaving the US jumped 52% between January and August, a steeper increase than in economy and premium-economy, travel manager TripActions said.
