Economy Takes Toll on Premium Airline Passengers

Growing worries about financial markets and the global economy are starting to weigh on the travel industry. Airlines, which had appeared to dodge a bullet when oil prices declined, are losing some of their best customers -- the ones who can mean the difference between a flight being profitable and producing a loss.

"When the Wall Street meltdown started two weeks ago, the heat turned up in an already uncomfortable world," says Simon Talling-Smith, British Airways' executive vice president for the Americas. The airline, which has a lot of exposure to the banking sector on its London-New York route and its flights to other finance centers, including Hong Kong and Tokyo, says its first- and business-class traffic fell nearly 9% in September from a year earlier.

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Source - Wall Street Journal

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