Companies 'still need to send staff abroad'

Businesses still have a need for air travel in order to send employees abroad, it has been claimed.

A potential reflection of the recession and fears over global warming, airlines have scheduled four per cent fewer flights for June, compared to the same month last year, according to figures from aviation data company OAG.

Commenting on the findings, Stanislas Berteloot, marketing director of travel and expense management company KDS, explained there remains a definite need for business travel.

He said many people required to jet off to foreign lands would prefer to use business class and reduce their expenditure on accommodation.

"The first good news is that despite the situation and the bad feeling for travel, there are a number of people who say that [it] remains a necessity," he noted, adding it was vital for corporations to build relationships through face to face contact.

More than seven in ten (71 per cent) of air passengers flying for work purposes admitted to a KDS survey that their firm had reduced its business travel.

Whether heading out of the country for business or pleasure, travel insurance may be one of the things on people's to-do lists.