CORPORATE TRAVEL
BOARDING PASS All the latest news for the busy EA organising corporate travel
Virgin Australia and Alliance Airlines keeping regional routes running
When can we expect international business travel to recommence ?
If you didn ’ t like travelling before , surely you do now — purely because no one is allowed to do it . There has been much speculation surrounding international travel and when it will be back on the cards .
So , when can we expect international travel to restart ? The truth is — Trans-Tasman bubble aside — nobody knows . Until we can manufacture and distribute a vaccine worldwide then travelling with confidence and to the peak standard of 2019 , nothing is for certain . But as the situation stands , The World Tourism Organisation ( WTO ) revealed that we won ’ t be seeing any international travel until the end of 2021 at the earliest , but one in 5 experts can ’ t see progress happening until at least 2022 . Some don ’ t even believe travel will be back before 2023 !
What does this mean for business travel ? Unfortunately , it ’ s not looking good . An article from McKinsey & Co suspects that leisure travel will be returning far before corporate . While this is good news for your family holiday , it ’ s not so good if your executive needs to travel for meetings and events . Health-risks aside , COVID- 19 has also wreaked havoc on the economy and we ’ re yet to experience one of the worst economic downturns in history .
Eric White , general manager at Chrome River expense report software company , said that while corporate travel is crucial to maintaining a competitive edge in the global market , the corporate travel budget is often one of the first things to be slashed during an economic downturn . Especially in the modern day when virtual options make it easy to adapt to border closures and restrictions , hence why corporate travel will have a slow return and can take up to 5 years to recover after a recession .
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said , “ For some of our big destinations like the United States and the UK , it ’ s going to need a vaccine given the high prevalence of the virus in both of those locations .” S
With Australia ’ s interstate borders gradually opening up and Victoria well on the way to recovering from 112 days of lockdown , your executive will be travelling domestically for meetings in no time . But with the aviation industry struck hard by coronavirus , some airlines are struggling to operate at full capacity . After nearly collapsing earlier this year , Virgin Australia is under new ownership of Bain Capital . But with Bain ’ s decision to shift to the less cost-efficient Boeing 737 mainline fleet and the removal of all ATR turboprops , Virgin is struggling to cover its normal regional routes .
However , Alliance Airlines ’ fleet of Fokker 50s , 70s , and 100s has been deemed as the appropriate size and efficiency to service these routes . On behalf of their existing partnership , Virgin and Alliance have submitted an application to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission that outlines an increase of 40 regional routes to be shared between the airlines . With homegrown airlines fighting to keep regional routes operating , your executive can be rest assured that when the time comes for business travel to return , there will be several options to work with their busy schedule . S
48 Chief of Staff | Issue 2 2020