Will budget airlines eventually dominate business travel? Have your say.
QUICKVOTE
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
(CNN) -- In the early days of budget travel, low fare airlines catered for tourists on a shoestring budget, but now no-frills airlines are casting their spell over business fliers as well.
A recent UK survey found that 69 percent of company directors, managers and executives said they now use low cost airlines for business trips.
The poll of 2,500 people conducted by Barclaycard concluded that low cost airlines were "posing a very real challenge to the future of business-class travel."
In a CNN Business Traveller online poll of almost 5,000 people, 75 percent said that budget airlines would revolutionize global travel.
"The growth in demand for low cost airlines has been unprecedented and is likely to continue unabated, as people continue their search for good value," Neil Jacobs, of the Four Seasons Hotel, group told CNN.
For the first time in the Barclaycard survey's eight-year history, two low cost carriers entered into the business travelers' top five airlines -- easyJet and Ryanair.
Of those who fly low budget airlines, 67 percent said they do so to manage costs, 39 percent said it was due to the location of regional airports.
It also found that business class users had fallen by 12 percent since last year, and the number of CEOs traveling in this class had more than halved in the last three years.
Only 15 percent thought business-class fares were value for money.
And of those who do not travel in business cabins, more than 70 percent said the difference in service did not match the extra cost.
No-frills airlines also believe that competitive pricing will win over a whole new group of business people who are not currently traveling.
"More people can afford to do international business, because flying is cheaper," Stelios Haji-Ioannou founder of easyJet told CNN.
Getting in on the act
In Asia, one of the region's busiest hubs is about to get in on the act as budget carriers have yet to muscle in on major business routes.
Singapore's Changi Airport is moving ahead with plans to build a terminal for low cost carriers, amid competition from other regional hubs including Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.
The airport is keen to cater for Southeast Asia's growing number of budget airlines such as Tiger Airways, ValuAir and AirAsia.
Budget carriers have yet to spread their wings to other parts of the Asia-Pacific, but some predict this is only a matter of time.
"In ten years the middle classes of China, India and other nations will be able to fly for low fares that we see today in North America, Europe and Australia," explains David Huttner, Virgin Blue Airlines.
"Low fare airlines will surpass full service carriers. Desire for value is not something exclusive to Western culture -- it is universal. This will soon be demonstrated by the Asian consumer."
Virgin Blue runs a successful budget carrier in Australia, attracting business accounts, and offering pay-as-you-go extras including access to airport lounges, roomier seats and valet parking.
