Flight Centre’s corporate arm FCM Travel says domestic bookings from the mining, oil and gas sector jumped 21 per cent in the first half of 2026, overtaking government and not-for-profit travel for the first time on record. The data, released 7 October, show Broome-Perth and Kalgoorlie-Perth flights rising more than 40 per cent, even as volumes on the traditional ‘Golden Triangle’ routes of Sydney-Melbourne-Brisbane slipped. FCM ANZ general manager Renos Rologas attributes the shift to Western Australia’s critical-minerals investment boom and record gold exploration spending. Corporate itineraries now routinely include FIFO rotations, site visits by international investors and supply-chain meetings tied to the US-Australia Critical Minerals Framework signed last year. While mining leads volume growth, utilities and renewable-energy projects are also fuelling regional demand, with Adelaide–Melbourne traffic up 24 per cent. The trend underscores how corporate travel is following capital flows rather than head-office geography; businesses that once sent executives eastward for meetings are now flying west to secure resources pivotal to energy-transition supply chains. For travel managers the message is clear: budget allocations and preferred-supplier agreements need revisiting. Regional airports like Broome are lobbying for infrastructure upgrades to handle larger aircraft, and accommodation providers are scrambling to secure labour as mid-week occupancy pushes past 90 per cent. Airlines are expected to redeploy capacity from saturated east-coast routes to WA over the northern-summer scheduling season. The data provide an early litmus-test for 2027 corporate-travel forecasts, suggesting that sectors linked to decarbonisation and defence will continue to outperform traditional white-collar segments even if Australia’s broader economic growth moderates.
Source: Business News Australia
