The International Air Traffic Association (IATA) has released its Premium Traffic Report for January 2014 and the numbers look positive.
Among the highlights? Premium passenger numbers rose 6.1 percent in January, a strong increase from 2013’s 4.2 percent growth. IATA also said growth in premium travel has been supported by positive developments in the business environment.
Improvements in certain economies have also helped global business confidence reach a three-year high. As a result, IATA said travel on key markets like the North Atlantic continues to accelerate, rising 5 percent in January.
The largest contributor to the strong growth in January was an increase of 7.2 percent in premium travel within the Far East. Growth in Asian trade activity over recent months has helped support international business and premium travel, the report said.
While the outlook for premium travel is broadly positive, though, IATA said improvements in key drivers have slowed slightly. Business confidence and export orders have increased little in 2014, reflecting weakness in some emerging markets.
Still, IATA was positive that” performance of advanced economies should sustain premium travel in the months ahead.
Agents can read the report at: www.iata.org/whatwedo/Documents/economics/premium-monitor-jan14.pdf