The average air ticket price paid by CWT clients rose 6 percent in January and 3 percent in February, according to CWT's Air Trends Report. The travel management company attributed the rise largely to new revenue management models implemented by airlines. CWT forecasts that the price will drop 4.1 percent from February's $702 to $673 in April. However, that decline seems to be a blip in a year in which the average ticket price will trend upward. "One of the reasons is that more airlines are looking to adopt IATA's New Distribution Capability standard as a means to generate greater ancillary revenue, such as seat selection and baggage fees," said CWT Solutions Group VP Christophe Renard.
Economy Class Usage
Economy class' share of total tickets booked, which fell from November to January and then rose in February and March, will remain flat in April, at 91.7 percent. CWT said corporate travel policies' increasing allowance of premium economy fares have prompted use of economy class to decline over the long term.
Advance Bookings
CWT predicts that in the next few months, travelers will book closer to their travel dates, as companies are "relaxing travel restrictions." In December, as companies eyed their budgets and tightened their belts at the end of the year, strict enforcement of travel policies led to bookings farther in advance. That effect carried over to January and February, during which around 47 percent of tickets were booked more than 14 days out. In March, CWT expects, around 43 percent of all tickets will be booked more than 14 days out, and in April, 42.6 percent will be.
Online Booking Tool Usage
CWT forecasts that, for the first time ever, more than half of all bookings will be made through online booking tools in April, reaching 50.5 percent. OBT use rose 6 percent from October to December and remained stable from January to February at 48 percent, and it will rise in March. CWT rising OBT use to OBTs' digitization efforts like mobile apps to improve user experience and content availability and to corporate travel management teams encouraging their travelers to book through OBTs and mobile apps.