Written by Staff Writer
When Germany’s Lufthansa first introduced its Cityhopper Elite loyalty program more than two decades ago, it was clear that business travelers were leaving their loyal patrons behind.
As business travel became increasingly demanding and complicated, the result was first Cityhopper and then Deutsche Business Class (DB), a program targeting a new group of passengers: “extraordinary”.
In the age of the jet age, business classes were in many ways the same as the more traditional “economy” classes — plush seating, plenty of air, a couple of hours’ delay before your flight. But business class had grown into something much more.
As businesses grew — spurred by the likes of dot-com boom, the global expansion of the Internet and various factors affecting trade — the need for greater speed and convenience increased. Increasingly, journeys were longer than before.
Not for these people the 15 hours or so needed to fly from Barcelona to New York or London to Paris. Not for these people a three- or four-hour layover on the way to the beach.
With travellers being more mobile than ever, the “businessjet” — with its single flight and multiple connections — was overstated.
But now business flights — especially city-to-city transfers — are for many more people, and flying across the Atlantic is often more leisurely than for business travelers.
It’s not just business travel that’s booming. Far from it.