Premium travel down in the Far East: IATA

Bangkok: According to the latest data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), fewer Asians are traveling in premium classes.

This is another worrying trend for airlines, in the wake of higher fuel costs. Airlines will now need to brace for dropping revenues not just from the economy class, but also from the more profitable business and first class.

IATA's data shows premium traffic in the Far East dropped 7.8 per cent during August, as against data from August 2007. The drop in premium traffic makes the Far East the weakest region globally in terms of premium seat sales. IATA's data shows that even though premium class traffic was relatively stable between Asia and the Middle East, it dropped by around 6.4 per cent on Pacific destinations, mainly Australia and New Zealand, and 3.4 per cent to and from Europe.

Globally, premium travelers dropped 1.5 per cent in August, making it the third consecutive month with falling premium segment sales for airlines. The global economic slowdown has shrunk corporate travel budgets, and consumers have decided to defer non-essential travel to save money. Airlines are faced, once again, with route rationalizations and the need to manage overheads, even as fuel starts becoming affordable. 

IATA termed its earlier prediction of a 2.5 per cent growth in total passenger numbers in 2009 as ''optimistic" in the current economic environment.