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Cheap flights good for business
 EasyJet has been voted second most popular airline by British business travelers, according to a report. QUICKVOTEHAVE YOUR SAY
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- Traveling with cut-price airlines has long been popular with those on a tight budget, but a report has found that business people are also taking advantage of cheap flights. Nearly a third -- or 30 percent -- of all work-related flights taken by British business people are with low-cost airlines, according to the Barclaycard Business Travel Survey, which collects data from 2,500 of its commercial cardholders in the United Kingdom, including CEOs, company directors and managers. Forty percent of business people who fly with budget airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair said they did so because the departure airport was close to their office. For 27 percent of respondents, the price of the flight was the attraction, and another 27 percent said availability in flights influenced their choice. Low-cost carrier easyJet was named in the survey as second most popular airline by business travelers, with 8 percent saying it was their preferred airline of choice. Non-budget airline British Airways was the most popular airline, way ahead of easyJet with 47 percent of the vote. Another survey, meanwhile, has found that the number of low-cost airlines throughout the world has doubled in the past five years. Budget airlines will operate more than 300,000 flights in April 2006, compared with 142,000 in April 2001, according to UK-based travel information company OAG. The number of flights operated within Europe by low-cost carriers this month is 24 percent up on the April 2005 figure. The big increase in flights in Europe is to and from eastern Europe, where services will increase by 13 percent in April 2006 compared to a year ago. Flights between Poland and the United Kingdom are up 24 percent. Worldwide, around 14 percent of all flights are now operated by no-frills operators who also account for 17 percent of all seats sold worldwide. OAG says the rise of low-cost carriers have transformed the aviation industry, particularly in Europe, beyond recognition. "They have changed people's leisure and travel habits," the report says, "Forced established airlines and tour operators to change their business models (and) popularized regional airports by breathing life into otherwise under utilized airports. "Who could have predicted , 10 years ago, that Ryanair would carry more passengers in Europe per month than Europe?" OAG business development manager Duncan Alexander said despite rising fuel prices having a negative impact on airlines, low-cost carriers were better equipped to react to and cope with higher oil prices. "Although fuel prices obviously affect all airlines, the budget carriers have lower cost bases and, because they are generally smaller than their full-service counterparts, they can react more quickly and effectively to market trends," Alexander said. 
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