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Economy airfares have risen approximately 21 per cent so far in 2026, with further increases expected next year as airlines pass on higher fuel costs, according to a new report from FCM Consulting.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Trends & Strategies for H1 2027 report warns that rising costs and ongoing disruption are putting pressure on corporate travel budgets, prompting businesses to reassess how they measure the value of work-related trips.<\/p>\n While airfares continue to climb, hotel prices have shown signs of stabilising. Global average hotel rates fell to US$216 in the third quarter of 2026, just 0.9 per cent above the same period last year, after reaching a five-year high of US$223 in Q2.<\/p>\n FCM Consulting, part of FCM Travel, said companies must move beyond traditional cost and compliance reporting to demonstrate how business travel contributes to commercial objectives.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery business trip is an investment in a customer, a deal or a team,\u201d FCM Travel chief customer officer Jo Lloyd said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen travel managers can show senior leaders why each trip happens and what it delivers, managed travel is seen as a strategic asset, and it\u2019s easier to invest in the trips that matter. Our job is to help clients build that case.\u201d<\/p>\n The report identifies four areas where corporate travel programmes are falling short, including measuring travel\u2019s return on investment, AI governance, negotiated rates and disruption preparedness.<\/p>\n The first, described as the articulation gap, highlights how traditional travel reporting focuses on expenditure rather than the business purpose behind each journey.<\/p>\n FCM recommends incorporating trip objectives into booking processes to help companies assess spending against broader commercial priorities.<\/p>\n The second concerns AI governance, with the consultancy warning that businesses need clearer oversight as artificial intelligence becomes more widely integrated into travel management.<\/p>\n \u201cA strong approach is fail-safe by default: when there isn\u2019t a compliant option, AI should stop and pass the decision to a person,\u201d FCM Consulting strategy lead Felicity Burke said.<\/p>\n The report also highlights a disconnect between negotiated travel rates and what companies actually pay.<\/p>\n FCM data shows 42 per cent of business travellers in the Americas book outside company travel policies, while just 56 per cent use approved booking tools.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, negotiated hotel rates with last room availability are accessible between 60 and 85 per cent of the time, compared with 25 to 50 per cent for rates without that provision.<\/p>\n \u201cThe actual rate achieved is the best measure of how well a negotiated rate is performing in the programme,\u201d FCM Consulting global hotel practice lead Rachel Newns said.<\/p>\n The fourth gap focuses on disruption readiness, with the report pointing to ongoing operational challenges across global aviation.<\/p>\n Airline seat capacity in the Middle East has declined 10.7 per cent this year, while nearly a quarter of European flights experienced delays in 2025.<\/p>\n US airline on-time performance also fell to its lowest level since 2014, according to the report.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the European Union\u2019s Entry\/Exit System has contributed to longer airport queues, with processing times increasing by as much as 70 per cent at participating airports.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore they set off, travellers should know how to rebook and who to contact if something goes wrong,\u201d FCM Consulting strategic advisor, market intelligence Juan Antonio Iglesias said.<\/p>\n FCM also warned that unmanaged hotel bookings can make it harder for companies to locate employees during disruptions, reinforcing the importance of treating travel policy compliance as a safety consideration rather than simply a cost-control measure.<\/p>\n The consultancy concluded that greater visibility over travel spending, booking behaviour and trip objectives will be critical for businesses seeking to maximise the value of corporate travel in 2027.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n kabarsula SLOT <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Economy airfares have risen approximately 21 per cent so far in 2026, with further increases…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kabarsula"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Four gaps businesses need to address<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Disruption remains a major concern<\/strong><\/h2>\n