The number of passengers traveling in premium seats on international markets was just 1.2% higher in February compared to a year ago, down on the January result of 3.3%, according to IATA. Economy class passenger numbers were up 3.7% in February on a year ago, a small improvement on the 2.9% growth in January.
There is, however, a downward bias on these results due to factors such as the Leap Year in February 2012. After adjusting for the extra day last February and other seasonal factors, approximately 2% points could be added to the above year-on-year growth rates.
Premium traffic on the Africa-Middle East routes increased 4.6% in February over the previous year, while economy traffic increased 8.7%. Europe-Middle East premium traffic was up 5.6%, while economy traffic was up 9%. Premium traffic on the Middle East-Far East routes was up just 0.2%, while economy traffic was up 9.4%.
