A modest recovery in world trade helped lift passenger numbers slightly on international flights during October, driven by demand in economy-class seating, the International Air Transport Association said.
The lobbying group stressed the results are off an extremely weak year-ago comparison, when the recession took hold and the number of people flying fell sharply. Fares are down significantly from pre-recession levels, but total passenger numbers have recovered about half of last year’s drop.
The number of people flying internationally rose 0.2 percent in October from a year ago, but is down 2.1 percent from 2007.
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Passengers flying economy rose 1.3 percent from a year ago, while premium seating fell 9.3 percent. Compared to 2007, premium seating is down 21.4 percent.