Premium Class Begins Comeback

Corporate travelers slowly are making their way back to the front of the plane for long-haul international journeys after a year spoilt by deep declines in premium volumes, while carriers two times again are investing in product and in some cases adding premium capacity.

Though it is unanimous that premium class passenger counts and yields are improving from the depths of 2009, they remain well below their peaks, and carriers anticipate a long slog toward full recovery—keeping buying power on the corporate side.

"It's still a buyer's market," Advito vice president Bob Brindley said. "The carriers will be quick to admit that while their premium demand is creeping up, it certainly is not where it was for most of 2008. Even though they have cut capacity back, they still have a lot of premium seats to sell and it is still a competitive market."

According to new American Express corporate client information, premium class utilization hit a low in the second quarter of 2009 when only 36 percent of tickets sold were in first or business class cabins. Since then, that number has climbed quarter over quarter and, for the last two months of the year, 42 percent of tickets were for premium class travel. Still below a recent high of 49 percent in the third quarter of 2008, American Express said those numbers show that "travelers are coming back to the road, and there is slight movement to the front of the plane."

International Air Transport Association global traffic information for December 2009 released last month showed the first year-over-year increase in the number of premium passengers since May 2008. In December, 1.7 percent more passengers flew in first or business class than in the same month in 2008.

Philippine and Sudanese airlines banned from EU airspace

The European Union has banned all airlines from Sudan and the Philippines from its airspace as part of an effort to improve safety standards in member states. The decision follows consultation with the International Civil Aviation Organisation, and sees the total number of countries on the blacklist rise to 17.