British Airways traffic is on the decline

Due to less traffic by business and personal caused by the credit crunch and a recent hike in ticket prices British Airways is reporting it had a decrease in traffic of 3.7 per cent in the month of June. In May British Airways experienced a .7 per cent decrease in travel and the decrease in June was 1.2 per cent more than what industry analyst were predicting.

George Stinnes the British Airways Head of Investor Relations said that “UK consumers are reluctant to spend more, and seeing as fares have risen there will be some effect (from that), but it’s hard to attribute (the decline) to one or the other.” He also spoke about the cost of fuel and stated “In a period of two months crude oil prices have risen from $110 per barrel to $147. Surcharges don’t cover the full increases but we have to try to cover cost.”

British Airways has a load factor for its flights of almost 77 per cent which is about 4 per cent less when compared to this time last year. British Airways was forced to add a fuel surcharge to each ticket purchased which has resulted in the hike in ticket cost. It is expected that British Airways will announce additional cuts to some of its programs already in existence.

Transport analyst, Gert Zooneveld, at Panmure Gordon spoke about the decrease in air traffic noting “We were expecting a decline in premium and non-premium traffic, and we got one.”

www.britishairways.com
www.panmuregordon.com