Lots of Room at the Front of the Plane

The number of travelers paying to sit in first and business classes declined globally by 21 percent in February, according to a study released this morning by the International Air Transport Association. The drop followed a 16.7 percent decline in January.

For those in the back of the plane, economy traffic dropped 8.3 percent in February, compared with a 4.7 percent decline in January. All of the figures are based on the same period last year, and the IATA points out that the February numbers are somewhat skewed because 2008 was a leap year and had an extra Friday in February, which affected air travel. But even with an adjustment to compensate for the Leap Day, traffic still showed a net loss.

The IATA notes that transatlantic routes especially took a beating in February, as premium and economy travel on routes between the US and Europe sunk 22.5 percent. Other trends:

* There is evidence that business passengers continue to trade down to cheaper seats at the back of the aircraft;
* Pacific markets showed the largest decline out of the large markets, with a 27.3% fall;
* Within Africa premium travel continued to be the only growth market with a 2.8% rise, but this is a very small market;
* A very tentative sign that a floor to the decline in premium travel may be approaching was shown in the reduced decline on Europe-Far East markets;


For the full report from IATA, click here.