How important are premium cabins for generating airline revenues?
Credit: Frugal Flyer on Unsplash
We calculated estimated revenue splits, using Apex multi-cabin fare and cabin configuration data, across six carrier/route combinations flying between London and Shanghai (PVG) or Hong Kong (HKG), split by cabin: Economy vs. Premium Economy + Business + First combined.
80% of British Airways ticket revenue on Heathrow–Shanghai comes from premium cabins. Just 20% from Economy.
On Gatwick–Shanghai, Air China and China Eastern sit close to 50/50 — same aircraft type, very different cabin layouts and fare multipliers.
We ran the numbers across six London–Asia services using Apex fare data:
How important are premium cabins for generating airline revenues