03.06.08
Air travel defies trend
A SOFTENING global economy is not expected to affect business travel in the Asia-Pacific. American Express Business Travel’s quarterly survey of airfare trends found that ticket prices across the Asia-Pacific rose by 1 per cent in the last quarter of 2007, down from 3 per cent the previous quarter. Fares in Australia were flat for the quarter although there was movement in some fare types.Year-over-year Asia-Pacific fares jumped 6 per cent overall, with the sharpest rise (11 per cent) to the Americas. American Express Business Travel head of advisory services Kurt Knackstedt said this year’s first quarter would give a better indication of whether the economic conditions in the US would affect fares across the Asia-Pacific.