The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price was a leading performer on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in October.
The ASX travel stock closed September trading for $14.22 per share and finished October at $16.65 per share.
That saw the Flight Centre share price gain an impressive 17.1% over the month, far outpacing the 5.9% gain posted by the ASX 200.
Here's what looks to have been driving investor interest.
What drove the stock higher?
To put October's performance in a better context, Flight Centre had a rough September, losing 19.9% over the month.
To a certain extent, there looks to have been some bargain hunting going on after the prior month's sell-off. The big lift in the share price came despite Flight Centre being amongst the most shorted stocks on the ASX 200 for much of October.
Take note, short sellers.
Flight Centre also likely caught some helpful tailwinds from the continuing rebound in travel demand.
In mid-October, Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) released an update revealing that travel demand was "strong" across all its categories. Domestic travel demand was reported to be back to or above pre-COVID levels, with international demand lagging but still rebounding.
The Flight Centre share price performance is also heavily influenced by demand from business travellers. And business travel numbers in the first nine months of 2022 now exceed those figures from 2019. Data which was covered in the media last month.
Commenting on that upswing, Flight Centre corporate managing director ANZ Melissa Elf said:
Construction is absolutely booming across the country, from houses and units to high-rises and new stadiums, and this has led to a massive rise in the need for this industry to get on a plane to carry out business.
With more leisure and business travellers returning to the air, the outlook for Flight Centre's services got brighter in October, likely contributing to its rising shares.
Flight Centre share price snapshot
It's been a turbulent year for the Flight Centre share price, which remains down 8% since the opening bell on 4 January. That's right about in line with the 8% losses posted by the ASX 200 year to date.
