When it was announced that residents of the UK took fewer international flights in 2009, no one was surprised. The sovereign state suffered mightily during the recession and did not return to positive growth until the last quarter of 2009. As a result, people in the UK have been cutting back on luxuries and that includes trips overseas.

One trend that has been especially well covered is the increase in domestic travel. They even have a new name or neologism for them, staycations. These staycations resulted in a four percent increase in travel in the UK in 2009. Of course, that hasn\'t helped the airports, which have reported a decline of around seven percent in arrivals and departures.

When we take a closer look, we find that there is one group that cut back on travel more than any other. Because they receive special deals and are an integral part of the industry, airlines keep a close eye on business travellers. And with a 15 percent drop in business travel, we can safely assume that they don\'t like what they see. What does this mean for UK flights

Well, there\'s bad news and there\'s worse news. The bad news is that declines in business travel are perfectly predictable. When the economy gets tight, the first thing companies slash are their travel budgets. Because there are far more affordable ways to communicate these days, companies only schedule trips that are absolutely necessary.

The worse news is that business travel will not bounce back until the economy recovers, and the way things are going, that could be several years. With high unemployment and rising deficits, an increase in business travel seems highly unlikely. So airlines - best cut the cost of the seats in your premium cabins.