British Airways today blamed the US slowdown and the foot-and-mouth outbreak for a slide in passenger numbers for the second consecutive month.
The airline carried a total of 3.3 million passengers during May, compared with 3.6 million in the same month last year.
BA said: ‘‘The slower US economy, foot-and-mouth and our computer outages have taken their toll on passenger numbers and revenues.’’
In April a computer glitch hit the airline’s booking system, leading to fewer passengers flying.
On routes to and from the Americas, totals fell by almost 20% compared to May last year, from 720,000 customers to 582,000.
Capacity fell 10.5% against May 2000, although BA is currently undergoing a programme to reduce the size of its planes and carry more premium fares.
Passenger revenue also fell in May, by 14.6%, with the biggest drop on Asia Pacific routes.