VLM survey confirms business class profile
VLM Airline’s latest passenger survey places the carrier firmly in the business travel sector with 70% of respondents saying they travel with the airline for work.
The airline’s third annual survey showed that more than 54% of passengers also hold senior management positions.
Most popular routes were from London City to Manchester and Rotterdam – more than 80% of passengers said they used these routes on business.
Business travellers continue to be late bookers too, with just over 23% of them booking within seven days of departure and just over 10% booking within 48 hours of travel. That said, more business travellers are thinking ahead. Those booking three months in advance for business purposes grew from 10% in 2006 to 19.6% in 2007.
VLM managing director Johan Vanneste said: “This survey gives us an insight into the patterns and behaviour of our passengers, enabling us to develop future plans to enhance the services we offer and to build on levels of customer satisfactionâ€.
By Dinah Hatch
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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