International premium air travel rose 1.7% in December, the first growth since May 2008 and the severe recession a year ago, the International Air Transport Association said Tuesday.
May marked the low point for premium travel when numbers were off by 25% year over year, the trade group said. Although there has been an 11% upturn since then, premium travel is still 17% below that of December 2008. That implies the industry lost about six years of premium travel growth over the recession. Since May, world trade has picked up significantly, helping premium travel growth, IATA said.
