WASHINGTON, DC — For the first time since the start of the pandemic, business flight bookings were above 2019 levels at the end of March 2022, according to the Mastercard Economics Institute’s “Travel 2022: Trends & Transitions” report.
Trends are on the rise, particularly for airlines, which are seeing tight domestic restrictions ease, the report said. There are also reports of an increase in international travel. In March of this year, cross-border flights were at pre-pandemic levels. Pent-up demand for travel after borders were closed during the pandemic is driving this surge in bookings.
Seventy-four percent of travelers say they are willing to book trips, even if they have to cancel or change them in the future. In 2021, only 56% of travelers were willing to make those same plans, according to an American Express Travel Trends Report from May of this year. 62% of those surveyed said they plan to take two to four trips in 2022, showing that the desire to travel and plan trips is strong.
Today, bookings are up 35% from 2019, according to Forbes, as more people are willing to travel abroad for both business and leisure.
The number of business travel bookings is correlated with the workforce in the markets. Markets where a large portion of the workforce is working from home, such as Canada, where about 15% fewer workers are commuting to the office, are seeing fewer bookings. Mexico and the Philippines, markets where a large portion of the workforce is working in the office, saw an increase in business flight bookings compared to 2019.
Globally, there are expected to be 1.5 billion more flights in 2022 than in 2021 if trends continue at the current pace. The MasterCard report shows that the US, UK and Spain are the top international destinations for travelers.
Europe is expected to see the largest increase in flight bookings, with nearly 550 million additional flights expected in 2022 compared to 2021. The Asia-Pacific region will see the second largest increase compared to 2021 figures, at around 430 million additional flights. North America, including Mexico, is expected to see around 365 million additional flights, while Latin America and the Caribbean will see around 120 million more flights, and the Middle East and Africa are expected to see around 115 million more flights.
Despite factors that could slow these trends, such as a new COVID variant and high inflation, the bottom line is that there is more reason to be optimistic about the return of travel than pessimistic, experts say.