IATA: Premium traffic share growing slowly, held up by strength of global trade and the Asia Pacific

IATA, via its Airlines Financial Monitor for Oct-2017, reported (09-Nov-2017) the share of origin-destination passengers in premium cabins increased 0.1 ppts to 5.2% for the year to Aug-2017. The share of total international revenues for premium cabins also rose by 0.1 ppts to 25.5%. IATA noted the pick-up in global trade conditions has helped to support premium passenger demand growth, particularly on markets to, from and within Asia. At the same time, premium fares on these routes have also held up well. Premium demand has lagged behind economy in a number of cases, most notably between Europe and the Middle East, which, in part, appears to reflect the impact of the ban of personal electronic devices in early 2017. [more - original PR]