International airline body IATA says the growth in premium travel outpaced the growth in economy travel in 2024.
Globally, international premium seat sales were up 11.8%, meaning six in every 100 international travellers flew in first, business or premium economy.
Sales of economy seats were up 11.5% last year.
Europe remained the largest market for international premium travel in 2024, with 39.3 million passengers.
However, the Asia Pacific region saw the greatest growth in premium travel, with a 23% increase, although economy travel grew 29%.
Worldwide, airline passenger numbers were up 10.7% last year, including on both domestic and international routes.
In the UK – the third largest aviation market – passenger numbers were up 7.3% to 261 million.
The US remained the world’s biggest aviation market with 876m passengers, with a 5.2% growth in domestic seat sales. China was second, with 741m seats sold, up 18.7% year on year.
