TQ3 Reports European Capacity Cuts

European carriers have reduced capacity to North American by an average of 16 percent post-Sept. 11, according to figures researched by TQ3 and released at an Association of Corporate Travel Executives forum in London yesterday.

The overall number of flights is down 15 percent, but the number of seats available has fallen 16 percent. U.K. airlines--the most important long-haul origin for United States--have 11 percent fewer seats on transatlantic routes. Worst hit are France and Italy, down 22 and 23 percent, respectively.

While demand remains even weaker than supply, capacity reduction is unlikely to be affected. BTI UK managing director Mike Platt told the forum that sales are still down 30 percent from last year. However, it could affect the current buyers market if, as executives were predicting yesterday, demand returns in the third quarter of 2002.

Hewlett-Packard travel manager for northern Europe Geoff Allwright said his company's travel team had learned several lessons from Sept. 11. These included the need to maintain a closer relationship with HP's security department, establishing a clear communication chain, developing crisis management and evacuation plans, and marketing the need for travelers to book their entire trip through official channels. As is the case with many companies, travelers were less compliant about booking their hotel through HP's authorized travel agency, Business Travel International, than their air ticket. "We knew which city our travelers were in on Sept. 11 but not always which hotels," said Allwright.

Other measures HP is taking include improving cross-border flow of information between BTI offices, maintaining a crisis section on the company's travel intranet and rehearsing the crisis management plan.