BA latest airling to consider axing routes
There was speculation today that British Airways will cut routes by nearly 5% to help combat soaring fuel bills.
The axe will fall on dozens of the carrier's short-haul routes in Europe this winter, The Mail on Sunday said, as bosses battle to slash costs.
Long-haul routes are expected to be spared when the airline announces its winter schedule on August 1.
BA said in May its fuel bill could soar by £1bn (€1.2bn) this year if oil prices remained at US$120 a barrel. Crude has since risen even higher, topping $147 earlier this month.
The airline uses about six million tonnes of jet fuel each year and every one dollar rise in the oil price cuts the company's profits by about £16m (€20.1m).
Last week BA's chief executive Willie Walsh told shareholders he was "reviewing our mainline flying programme to see where it is prudent to reduce capacity in the current economic climate".
"We will not cut flights that our customers most value," he added.
A number of US airlines including United Airlines and Continental have made substantial capacity cuts this year as fuel prices have risen.
Last week, budget airline Ryanair announced a 14% reduction in the number of weekly flights for winter 2008/09 at Stansted airport in Essex.
The number will be cut from more than 1,850 to just less than 1,600 this winter and the airline reckons it will carry around 900,000 fewer passengers than last winter.
Ryanair blamed the capacity cutbacks on the huge hike in oil prices and the "expense" of using Stansted.
The number of people flying with BA dipped last month as bosses admitted the consumer environment was "difficult".
BA carried 2.91 million passengers in June - a 2.9% drop on the June 2007 total. Premium traffic (passengers travelling in first class and business class) was down 3.1%, while economy class numbers fell 3.8%.
In May the airline increased its fuel surcharge, with flyers on the most distant long-haul routes paying £30 (€37.82) more for a return flight. The hike came just a month after its last raised surcharge.
