Supplier Solutions Business Travel Updates in April 2024
Written by: Mike Heck | Vice President, Supplier Solutions
The Importance of Non-Hub Airports
Most travelers are aware of the country’s major hub airports – located in cities like New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Denver, and Los Angeles. Hub airports are utilized by multiple airlines, enabling interline and codeshare agreements to facilitate seamless connections. But what often is not talked about is the importance of non-hub (or spoke) airports. These are the hundreds of airports located across the country, flying passengers from smaller non-hub airports to the hub airports.
A good example of an outstanding and growing non-hub airport is ATW (Appleton WI).
In 2023, ATW saw over 950,000 passengers use the airport in the calendar year (14.3% growth vs 2022). “This outstanding growth is fostered by our relationships with our airline partners and ongoing support from the region” said ATW Airport Director Abe Weber. “Area residents are supporting nonstop flights because air travel is more convenient through ATW.” Passengers will also soon see a growth in ATW facilities with the addition of four new gates and 47,000 more square feet of space added to the existing concourse.
If you look at the non-stop service from ATW, you will see increasing service to major hub airports. In addition to that service, local customers will now have one-connection service to virtually anywhere in the U.S. as well as many worldwide destinations.
United Resumes Service Between New York/Newark and Tel Aviv
United has resumed daily service between Newark and Tel Aviv. This will mark the first step in restoring vital passenger and cargo service that was suspended last October. Daily service resumed March 6th. United conducted detailed safety analysis including work with security experts and government officials in the United States and Israel.
United to Resume Service Between New York/Newark and Tel Aviv
National Secures Ninth Consecutive BTN Win as Top Rental Car Company
Award was voted upon by travel buyers across the U.S., securing the ninth win in a row for National Car Rental. Survey results are listed below.
National Scores 9th Consecutive Win as Industry Average Ratings Decline | Business Travel News
Southwest Airlines Furthers Sustainable Aviation Fuel Efforts
In a move designed to assist Southwest’s Nonstop to Net Zero plan, Southwest launches an investment with LanzaJet. LanzaJet is a SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) technology provider and producer with patented ethanol-to-SAF technology and the world’s first ethanol-to-SAF commercial plant. As part of the agreement, LanzaJet intends to build an ethanol-to-SAF facility to produce SAF primarily for Southwest. These moves will help Southwest achieve their goal of replacing 10% of total jet fuel consumption with SAF by 2030 and the goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Furthering our Sustainable Aviation Fuel efforts with LanzaJet Investment (southwest.com)
Pandemic in the Past as Business Travel Has Strong Start to 2024
According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), business travel is riding a wave of momentum in the early part of 2024. When asked about top industry issues anticipated for 2024, pandemic concerns were at the bottom of the list, cited by only 1% of travel managers. More than one-half of respondents (57%) say it is no longer relevant to compare industry performance for 2024 to 2019 pre-pandemic levels. Top concerns for 2024 include the rising cost of travel, overall economic concerns, travel disruptions, and geopolitical concerns.
GBTA: Strong start to 2024 puts ‘pandemic in the past’ | Business Travel News Europe
