IATA premium traffic monitor Nov-2009

The number of passengers travelling on first or business class airline tickets during November was 6.7% lower than a year ago. The apparent improvement over the 9.3% decline in October was entirely due to the slump in business travel at the same time last year; month-to-month there was a slight fall in passenger numbers. There has been a rise in premium travel in recent months, which is now around 5% higher than its May low point, but much of the upturn took place mid-year, since then there has been little further progress once seasonal fluctutations are taken into account. Premium travel numbers are still over 20% lower than early 2008 levels.