High-yield passenger numbers halved

According to the findings of Velocity Group, the number of business-class passengers using commercial airlines in the United States has halved in the past five years.

Since the September 11 attacks, the proportion of passengers paying higher fares is down from 18 percent to nine percent of the total number of travelers.

The consultancy group claims that business fliers are using turboprop aircraft or chartered business jets for travel to a far greater extent now than a few years ago.

"Despite a rise in total airline passenger trips, the number of higher-yield trips has declined from almost 80 million to 41 million since the year 2000 - 20 million have been lost in the past two years alone," said Velocity Group partner Gerald Bernstein.

"It's tough for most airlines to make a decent profit with 85 percent of passengers flying on discount fares," he concluded.

Industry analysts fear the news could mean rising fares across the board for US airline passengers, a trend which is already rife through rising gas prices.

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