BA warns of 'fragile' outlook
British Airways warned its outlook remained “fragile” today despite traffic figures showing the airline experienced a surge in last minute bookings in June.
Reporting traffic and capacity statistics for June, BA said yields continued to be weak, adding that the revenue outlook for the first quarter was well down on the previous year.
But BA said the operating result for the first quarter would be “marginally positive”.
In a statement, BA said: “Traffic is gradually improving from the lowest levels seen earlier this year.”
The airline suffered in early 2003, along with the rest of the industry, from fears related to the war in Iraq and terrorism, as well as the global economic slowdown.
June’s traffic figures, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, showed a 5.8% rise.
This helped the passenger load factor gain two points to 76.8%.
Lingering economic pressures contributed to the continued fall in premium traffic, which slipped 2.5%.
Non-premium traffic rose 7.3% in June, during which time BA was named “best low cost airline” in a poll undertaken by The Guardian newspaper.
BA, which restructured its European and domestic fares last summer, has cut prices on 180 European routes.
The company said cargo traffic fell by 1.2% in June.
