• Air travel in both premium and economy markets strengthened in December: 3.7% and 7.3% higher than in the previous year.
• Over the past 2 months, premium travel has expanded further than economy, improving the mix for airlines and lending some support to yields.
• Although premium travel strengthened at the end of 2011, the trend for the previous 8 months had been flat at best. However, economy travel continues to trend upwards, albeit at a slower pace than in the first half of 2011.
• During the year as a whole, premium travel markets grew 5.5%, with economy travel growing 5.1%. Although this performance is in line with historical averages, it was a slowdown compared to the post-recession rebound in 2010.
• Despite financial instability in the Eurozone, travel markets within Europe expanded by 5.1% in 2011. In fact, growth on all of the larger routes continued at a robust pace during the year.
• Business confidence – which leads premium travel by several months – has now turned up in the past 2 months and is pointing to increased business activity. As a result, we would expect some increase in business travel, lending some support to premium travel in the months ahead. However, growth risks from the Eurozone banking crisis remain.
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Source: IATA
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