IATA has released its report on premium and economy air travel for June.
The report demonstrates that growth in the number of international air passengers slowed in June to 2.4%, with first half growth of 3.7%, compared to the same period last year. Most of this ‘year-on-year’ growth took place last year - since December, travel has expanded by just 0.7%. The travel slowdown has been caused by slower world trade growth and a dip in business confidence, however the report also indicates that business confidence has been rising in recent months, pointing to a stronger second half for travel.
Travel on premium seats grew more slowly in June, at 1.8%, than economy travel, at 2.5%, however, the rising trend in the share of premium since late-2012 remains intact. Moreover, premium yields have been more robust so the premium revenue share has risen faster, to almost 29%.
Premium yields have been supported by the relative strength of longer-haul markets, with the strongest growth of larger markets seen on the North Atlantic, Pacific and Europe-Far East. By contrast markets connected with emerging markets have generally been weak and some are getting weaker.
Faster long-haul growth has meant that international RPKs are growing much faster than passenger numbers, at 5.5% versus 2.4% in June.