CORPORATE AIR TRAVEL SURVEY 2001

Business Travellers: Budget Cutbacks & Travel Plans Under Pressure

This year’s IATA Corporate Air Travel Survey 2001 spans a period of rapid change in international corporate travel, from the deepening economic concerns of mid 2001 to the effects of the terrorist events of September 11th. Survey 2001, released today, covers business traveller opinions on a wide range of key issues influencing corporate travel decisions, including travel budgets and patterns, airline choice, alliances, aircraft types, the influence of new technology, entertainment & communications and the importance of Frequent Flyer Programmes.

Over 1,000 regular long haul corporate travellers from Europe, North America and Asia/Pacific were personally interviewed. For this edition, a special ‘post September 11th’ supplementary survey was carried out with a sample of the same respondents, using the Internet.

The pre-and post September 11th responses to questions relating to company travel budgets showed a significant shift in respondent opinions.

2000 July 2001 September 2001

Budget will Increase 45% 32% 10%

Budget will Decrease 7% 9% 36%

However - respondents to the supplementary survey were optimistic about the rebound of the corporate travel market: 57 percent said they expected normality to return within 6 months; 26 percent expected a return in 12 months; 14 percent expected it would take 2 years or more; only 3 percent said business travel would never be the same.

The 2001 Corporate Air Travel Survey offers a range of reports tailored to users’ needs and providing an impartial insight into this key group of long haul business travellers and their company policies. A range of additional report Modules are offered covering the In-flight Experience, Choice of Airline or Use of New Technology. The Modules are available with the Core Report.