The number of passengers travelling in premium airline cabins in Europe has now reached more than 90 per cent of pre-Covid levels as “pent-up” demand for travel has fuelled sales.
Figures from airlines association IATA show that premium passenger numbers in Europe, covering both business and first-class travellers, had reached 93.1 per cent of 2019 levels in February. As a comparison, this figure for premium traffic in Europe was at just 56.3 per cent in February 2022 when many Covid restrictions remained in place.
IATA noted that “premium traffic has recovered faster than total passenger traffic” both in Europe and across the global airline industry. Total passenger numbers in Europe reached 86 per cent of 2019 levels in February – up from a 60 per cent recovery rate seen 12 months earlier.
Europe’s recovery in passenger traffic is ahead of the overall global rebound for the industry, with Asia Pacific still lagging the rest of the world. Although this is expected to change as China and other major destinations in the region dropped most of their Covid travel restrictions at the start of this year.
North America has so far seen the strongest recovery in premium airline traffic which was 8 per cent above pre-Covid numbers in February.
“These outcomes indicate that demand for premium travel has benefited from the economic recovery and pent-up demand for travel,” said IATA in its analysis of the latest figures.
“While it is still unclear if consumer preferences and business travel patterns have been durably affected by the pandemic, the overall trend continues to suggest a positive trajectory for premium class air travel.”