British Airways today said falling oil prices were providing little relief to the airline as its fuel bill is instead inflated by a weaker pound.
The carrier is expecting fuel costs to top £3bn (€3.6bn) in the current year – the equivalent of more than £8m (€9.8m) a day.
While oil retreats from July’s record high above $147 a barrel, sterling’s slide to a two-and-a-half year low against the greenback has given BA a fresh headache.
“Market conditions for the industry remain very difficult, with the strong dollar largely offsetting the benefit of the recent fall in oil prices,” it said.
Shares fell almost 3% as August traffic figures released by the airline showed a 2.7% fall in its load factor – a key measure of how full its planes are - compared to 12 months earlier.
Premium traffic rose 2.2% – compared with a 2.1% fall in non-premium travel - but BA also warned that the outlook for premium travel remained “uncertain” until after the summer break.
The total number of passengers carried by the airline fell 3.2% to 2,988,000 compared to August last year.