Premium travel on upward path, rising 5.6% in Oct

INTERNATIONAL premium travel continued on an upward path in October, with the number of passengers increasing 5.6 per cent year-on-year, following a 4.3 per cent expansion in September as rising business confidence helped to fuel air travel demand.

Within the Far East, however, premium air travel grew at an even faster clip due to a pick-up in the Chinese economy and an increase in regional trade activities which lifted the number of premium passengers upwards by 9.6 per cent.

The demand for premium air travel picked up pace in the second half of the year, taking the year-to-date growth to 4.5 per cent, said the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in a release yesterday. IATA represents about 240 airlines which account for 84 per cent of global air traffic.