The number of airline passengers flying in premium cabins worldwide in September increased 12 percent year-over-year

, the tenth consecutive month of such growth, according to the International Air Transport Association. "The September premium outcome is still some 11 percent below the figure for September 2007 and 4 percent lower than the total for September 2008," IATA reported. "However, on the basis of these latest figures, it would appear that earlier concerns over a stalling of recovery of premium traffic might have been misplaced. The latest trade data and output from the business confidence surveys suggest continuing underlying momentum for premium traffic." The routes with the strongest premium traffic growth again were those to, from and within Asia. In the North Atlantic market, premium traffic grew 7 percent in September while economy traffic increased 5 percent.