While many airports in Europe are canceling flights due to staff shortages, Eurostar announced on Monday that the number of business trips in the first six months of 2022 has increased. As a result, Eurostar is back at 70 percent of its 2019 level, while the operator is only on 75 percent of its pre-pandemic timetable.
“Business travel has resumed faster in 2022 than we expected. We are confident that this trend will continue beyond the summer period,” said François Le Doze, Eurostar’s COO. The number of business accounts is 40 percent higher than in 2019. In addition, one fifth of Eurostar’s business customers require their employees to travel by train when feasible. In an April survey, a vast majority (90 percent) indicated that “face-to-face contact” between businesses and customers was the primary reason for moving. Eurostar rejects that working from home would mean the end of business trips.
Ecological aspect
But the ecological aspect also plays a role. Eurostar recalls that one flight is equivalent to thirteen train journeys on the high-speed train. According to Le Doze, Eurostar is “determined to work with the rail industry to further optimize our timetables and connections, making it easier for more passengers to choose train over plane”.
Eurostar controls about 80 percent of the travel market between London-Brussels and London-Paris. Recently, the company announced that it would deploy a fourth direct train between Amsterdam and London. According to a Eurostar spokeswoman, the operator could easily fill more trains and increase supply, but is gradually building its services to avoid the turmoil in the airline industry.
READ ALSO. Flying becomes considerably more expensive due to high fuel prices: 70 to more than 300 euros extra
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