Premium air travel: structural demand slide provides revenue headwind, but who is most exposed?

Across the world, premium air travel demand has slackened. And it is hurting the world's airlines.

In the early days of aviation, it was all about the glamour. Images from the 1930s and 1940s evoke an era of silver and linen service, with passengers and crew dressed as if they were in one of Europe's grand hotels rather than in a noisy metal tube dodging bad weather and landing to refuel on any flight longer than a few hours. As air travel became more popular and affordable, first class cabins remained the domain of the rich and famous, but the advent of business class gave busy executives a haven from their daily stresses and appealed to the ambitions of the aspiring rich and famous.

Now, in the era of low-cost carriers, aviation is mostly about getting from A to B as cheaply as possible. Airlines such as Southwest, Ryanair and AirAsia have led a popular revolution democratising air travel and making it as accessible and common-place as catching a bus.

So where do first class and business class, collectively known as the premium cabins, fit into this new world?