‘Brexit suspense’ expected to affect European air fares
Brexit might prevent air fares in Europe from following a global downward trend over the next couple of months, according to a new report by business travel group Carlson Wagonlit Travel.
It is forecasting a 1% drop in global airfares this month and a further 1% drop in December due to lower fuel prices and the usual holiday slowdown in travel.
It said that heated competition on transatlantic routes was also keeping prices low.
It estimated that by next month, the average global air fare will be down to $690, but this is almost $60 higher than at the start of the year.
However, the first bi-monthly air trends updates by CWT Solutions, the group’s data and consulting arm, said fares might stay ‘temporarily suspended’ in Europe due to ‘suspense over Brexit’.
The report also revealed that fewer than half of all bookings are made at least 14 days before travel and CWT is anticipating more late bookings in December.
"We project a 4.1% decrease in advanced bookings in December, totaling about 43.1% of all bookings made," it said.
Online bookings have stabilized at around 48% of the market following a huge increase last year, it said. "We do expect a slight 1% drop in November and December," it added, saying the holiday period was ‘not ideal for getting clients onboard with new online tools’.
North America continues to be the region with the highest ratio of online bookings, especially in the United States where 60% of bookings are now made online.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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