Lufthansa bets Germany’s Mittelstand will rescue business travel

Lufthansa is “optimistic” about the return of corporate travel, betting that executives from the country’s small-and-medium sized companies will take to the skies again in an effort win business overseas. “Many of our corporate customers are not just the global, blue-chip companies . . . but SMEs which are the backbone of the German economy,” said Carsten Spohr, the carrier’s CE. Spohr’s confidence, which relied on data gathered by Lufthansa’s sales team, was supported by representatives of Mittelstand companies. In a survey conducted in February by the VCI — which represents 1,700 German chemical and pharmaceutical companies — nearly 60% said limits on travel were the biggest challenge facing their businesses. The study, which polled more than 120 small or medium-sized enterprises, found that the inability to take business trips was preventing companies from acquiring new customers and hindering development projects. “They don’t have a global infrastructure to live without corporate travel,” Spohr said of such businesses. “They don’t even sometimes have people on the ground in markets in Asia or the US, so people need to go there themselves.” The question of whether business travel will ever return to its pre-pandemic levels is one that has hung over the airline industry. Lufthansa, which includes Austrian, Swiss, Brussels and Eurowings airlines, has long been heavily reliant on revenues from business customers. Prior to the pandemic, corporate bookings accounted for 45% of the group’s revenue.<br/>