Australia’s renewables push fuelling strong business travel demand

Australia’s push for renewable energy is driving a surge in demand for business travel as mining, energy and government groups crisscross the country.

Miners and energy companies that are leading the push for Australia to have zero emissions by 2050 are also fuelling some of the rising demand for business air travel.

Data from Flight Centre’s large market corporate division, FCM, shows big businesses such as Shell and Wesfarmers and the Northern Territory government have taken 41 per cent more flights in the first 11 months of 2023 than 2022.

Most of the volume came from the mining, oil and gas sector, which increased 46 per cent, with hundreds of thousands flights taken over that period. Despite a 63 per cent increase in the period, government business trips were the second highest sector for corporate demand.

Flight Centre Corporate managing director and global FCM chief operating officer Melissa Elf said the mining industry’s growth was due to Australia’s push towards renewables, which required more mining of critical minerals.

“There is a strong focus on renewable energy at the moment and that is fuelling demand. You are already seeing increased activity as some of the miners look at renewable projects such as hydro, solar, wind,” Ms Elf said.

“It is not just mining companies – the mining support services are also travelling in greater ­numbers.”

Flight Centre’s FCM travel and corporate traveller divisions have seen a 9.5 per cent rise in mining travel into regional hubs in August-October 2023, compared to the same period last year.

Ms Elf said while renewables were driving mining demand, traditional mining such as iron ore and coal had also seen strong growth in the past year as players looked to expand operations.

The International Energy Agency forecasts that to meet climate targets, by 2040 Australia will need six times the minerals used for renewables than what are currently mined.

Mining is driving demand for business travel in Australia.

University of Technology Sydney predicts the scale of this demand would result in close to 400 new mines by 2035, more than doubling Australia’s currently operating mines. It comes as 70,000 people fly in from around the world flew in for the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, to talk about the need to reduce ­emissions.

Education-related travel rose to fifth position with 104 per cent growth in 2023 to date, after the reopening of China’s borders.

Sydney remained the top destination for domestic business travel, followed by Perth and Melbourne.

Port Moresby was the most booked international location, followed by Auckland, Singapore and London.

“Mining is the driving force for Port Moresby as miners have a strong presence there,” Ms Elf said. “Typically people don’t reside in the PNG so as a result a lot of Australians do fly in and fly out of Port Moresby.”

Corporate travel was expected to be strong in 2024 as companies continued to value face-to-face meetings with clients in a bid to win more business.

Ms Elf said international capacity would continue to improve as Chinese carriers increase flights which will help to lower airfares.

“People have been paying the prices because they value the face-to-face and see the need for it,” she said.