More than two-thirds of corporate travel buyers expect air
travel volumes to increase in 2018 with an average growth rate of 4.8 percent, according
to Morgan Stanley's 2018 Global Corporate Travel Outlook Survey.
The survey, based on 212 responses from corporate travel
managers collected in mid-October, showed buyers are not expecting significant
increases in airfares as those volumes increase. On average, buyers expect
fares to be up 1.8 percent year over year, but about half expect fares to
remain steady year over year. The average corporate discount also remained
steady year over year in the 10 percent to 15 percent range.
The largest expected volume growth is on domestic routes in
North America, up 2.5 percent with fares up 1.6 percent, and on transatlantic
routes, up 2.3 percent on 1.3 percent higher fares, according to the survey.
Respondents expect Asia/Pacific volume to be up 1.9 percent on 1.3 percent
higher fares, both higher rates of increase than Morgan Stanley's survey last
year, while growth in Latin America will be more muted at 0.6 percent on 0.3
percent higher fares.
Buyers also project little change in premium-class policies
next year, with about 70 percent reporting no change in policy. Less than 10
percent expect their policies to become more liberal, though it was a higher
percentage than the previous year's survey. Buyers have decreased, however, the
use of low-cost carriers, which accounted for 11.2 percent of airline budgets
on average, down more than a percentage point year over year.
Echoing the results of BTN's
annual airline survey, buyers rated Delta as the best corporate airline
among the four largest U.S. carriers, based on network, flight capacity and
frequency, product quality, reliability and pricing. United Airlines ranked
second, followed by American Airlines in third and Southwest Airlines in
fourth.