Figures damaging airline yields - IATA
There was a global drop of 16.7% in passenger travel in first or premium class in January, compared with the same month in2008.
The fall follows a drop of 13.3% in figure for December.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) which released the figures in its Premium Traffic Monitor today (March 17), said the fall was now "wreaking significant damage to network airline yields and profitability."
It said that average fares were also now dropping and estimated that revenue from premium traffic was "down by at least a quarter in January."
IATA said there was "some evidence" that passengers were switching form premium to economy class.
The region which suffered the biggest drop in premium traffic was Asia which saw it fall by 23.4%.
But Europe was not far behind with a 22.2% decline.
IATA noted that premium traffic was rising 5% at the start of 2008 but began to drop sharply after the banking collapse and the onset of the world recession.
Premium fares dropped on average by 6% by December with some routes in Europe suffering a 16% fall while others in the US slipped by 11%.
IATA said that business travel was usually more sensitive to economic growth rather than fare levels.
But it added: "The fact that average premium fares are falling faster than discounted economy fares on some markets, e.g. within Europe, is a measure of how severe the downturn in business travel has become.
"With economic conditions still deteriorating, despite bank bailouts and fiscal packages, the bottom for the decline in premium travel numbers is not yet in sight."
Europe emerged as the second weakest region, after Asia, in the IATA Monitor.
It said the region has seen premium traffic falling off as passengers moved to cheaper seats on short haul carriers.
It said both premium and economy traffic in the region fell more in January than in December.
Premium traffic went down by 22.2% in January compared with 16.3% in December and economy was down by 6.2% compared with 3.9%.
www.iata.org