Premium air travel in Africa 14.7% higher

IATA is an international industry trade group representing some 240 airlines comprising 84% of scheduled international air traffic.

IATA said that the premium travel markets were driven largely by demand for business travel‚ which is why the double-digit growth in this sector is good news for African economic growth.

Air travel has never been safer‚ the latest figures show from Aviation Safety Network‚ with fewer accidents and fatalities in 2012 than for nearly 70 years.

Although there were 23 crashes worldwide involving commercial airliners‚ resulting in 475 deaths‚ it was the safest year since 1945.

More than half those fatalities came in two crashes‚ one in Nigeria where 153 people died killed and the other in Pakistan that left 127 people dead.

In the United States‚ where there are 10m flights a year‚ there has not been a fatal crash for four years.

The network said advanced navigation‚ improved safety standards‚ and more reliable planes and engines are the key factors in making flying one of the safest ways to travel.

Looking ahead‚ IATA said there were some promising signs for world trade growth.

Changes in new export orders tend to lead changes in advanced economy trade growth by three to four months‚ and although the Global PMI for new export orders has been low for many months‚ recent results show significant improvement.

The new export orders index is now almost out of "contraction" territory‚ indicating that world trade growth could stabilise in the months ahead.

Business confidence is a good leading indicator of premium travel growth itself.

The JP Morgan/Markit measure of confidence in the manufacturing industry is now well above the neutral 50 mark‚ and has moved into "expansion" territory.

This level of business confidence indicates that the business environment should see some improvements in the months ahead. This in turn should provide support further growth in premium air travel markets.