the International Air Transport Association said April international premium ticket volumes rebounded by growing 6.4 percent

After reporting the largest monthly drop since 2003 in international premium air traffic for March, year-over-year. Nevertheless, IATA said "the underlying picture for business travel shows a further slowdown, more or less a halt in growth, following growth of 2.4 percent in 2007." It cited the weakened U.S. economy, a 6 percent cut in North American premium travel during March and April, and "substantially" slower business activity in Japan and parts of Europe. Noting "brisk" premium passenger traffic on transatlantic routes, IATA said that "U.S. exports are booming as a result of continued robust growth in Europe and the weak dollar, which has supported U.S.-originating business travel."