Hong Kong – Low-cost carriers (LCCs) have proven popular with business travellers in Europe and the US and should appeal to the corporate market in the region as well, according to several TMCs.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel director-industry relations, Asia-Pacific, Mr Peter Brady, said: “In Australia, we’ve seen clients question the need and the benefit of a negotiated policy with a traditional carrier and the trend is to move towards an open-skies travel policy.”

TQ3 senior vice-president Asia & Middle East, Mr Bicky Carlra, said his company had seen the LCC market grow in Europe and the US.

Using LCCs, however, has its own challenges, not least of which is how to track and report the travel data. He said: “It certainly brings savings, but there are logistical problems. They are a bit more difficult to manage as LCCs are not booked through a GDS and that makes it harder to track bookings and make reports.”

American International Travel Hong Kong managing director, Mr Joseph Kao, said travellers in Asia needed time to get used to the idea of using LCCs and reputation was still a major factor when choosing a carrier.