Business travellers are increasingly choosing to travel with Eurostar's high-speed trains as airports and airlines are cancelling flights due to staff shortages.
The amount of business customers has risen to 70% of pre-pandemic travelling, although only 75% of the schedule from 2019 is still running. The recovery in business travel between London and Paris was strongest for French and American companies. The sectors driving business travelling are banking, luxury and consultancy.
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"Business travel has resumed faster in 2022 than we expected, especially when you consider that we are still only about three-quarters of our pre-pandemic timetable," said Eurostar's commercial director François Le Doze in De Morgen. Le Doze is hopeful about the autumn as well, as September is usually a busy month for business travellers.
Sustainability is key
Sustainability is becoming important to companies, who now try to reduce their carbon footprint, which leads to more train travel. More than 20% of Eurostar's corporate customers will mandate their employees to travel by train when it is a feasible option. In addition, over half of travellers now say that traveling sustainably is more important now than prior to the pandemic.
"We are committed to working with the rail industry to further optimise our timetables and connections to make it easier for more passengers to choose train over plane," said Le Doze.
Eurostar recently announced a fourth direct train service between its route between London and Amsterdam. A Eurostar spokeswoman confirmed that due to rising demand, Eurostar can easily fill more trains. In addition, Eurostar's services are expanding to avoid the chaos facing the aviation sector.
