go_fly
July 4, 2002, 09:54 AM
British Airways blamed the Queen and David Beckham for last month's disappointing passenger traffic figures as Rod Eddington, its chief executive, renewed his call for more runways in the South-East.
The airline said yesterday that profitable first-class and business-class traffic fell 13.2pc year on year in June, with economy passengers down 13.1pc. The falls were greater than the reduction in seat capacity, which was 12.7pc lower, leaving load factors 0.4 points down at 74.8pc.
BA said: "An already soft market was further affected in June by air traffic control disruption, falling confidence in financial markets, two public holidays for the Queen's Golden Jubilee, and the World Cup keeping many people at home." BA was the official airline for the England football team.
The fall in front-of-cabin passengers was worse than May's 9.1pc fall and April's 3.4pc drop, and the shares fell 9 to 164.5p. Front-of-cabin traffic for the first quarter of BA's financial year fell 8.8pc.
George Stinnes, BA's head of investor relations, offered no forecast of when the market may recover. "We have never taken the view that there could be third-quarter or fourth-quarter recovery," he said.
"We believe this is a world for self-help. That's what future size and shape is all about." This is BA's plan to cut costs, including 13,000 jobs, and improve the short-haul network.
Despite the turmoil in the aviation market, Mr Eddington reiterated that Britain must plan for long-term passenger growth.
Airport congestion, he said, was costing BA £600m a year, comprising "£500m from splitting our operations between Heathrow and Gatwick because of capacity constraints at Heathrow, and £100m from flight delays".
He said aviation contributed £10 billion a year to Britain's GDP, adding: "Having a European aviation hub at Heathrow was one of the key reasons for London's development into an economic powerhouse. That position is now being seriously undermined because we have neglected to properly plan."
The Government's long-awaited study into new runways in the South-East is expected on about July 22, though it is not believed to include recommendations on where to build them.
The airline said yesterday that profitable first-class and business-class traffic fell 13.2pc year on year in June, with economy passengers down 13.1pc. The falls were greater than the reduction in seat capacity, which was 12.7pc lower, leaving load factors 0.4 points down at 74.8pc.
BA said: "An already soft market was further affected in June by air traffic control disruption, falling confidence in financial markets, two public holidays for the Queen's Golden Jubilee, and the World Cup keeping many people at home." BA was the official airline for the England football team.
The fall in front-of-cabin passengers was worse than May's 9.1pc fall and April's 3.4pc drop, and the shares fell 9 to 164.5p. Front-of-cabin traffic for the first quarter of BA's financial year fell 8.8pc.
George Stinnes, BA's head of investor relations, offered no forecast of when the market may recover. "We have never taken the view that there could be third-quarter or fourth-quarter recovery," he said.
"We believe this is a world for self-help. That's what future size and shape is all about." This is BA's plan to cut costs, including 13,000 jobs, and improve the short-haul network.
Despite the turmoil in the aviation market, Mr Eddington reiterated that Britain must plan for long-term passenger growth.
Airport congestion, he said, was costing BA £600m a year, comprising "£500m from splitting our operations between Heathrow and Gatwick because of capacity constraints at Heathrow, and £100m from flight delays".
He said aviation contributed £10 billion a year to Britain's GDP, adding: "Having a European aviation hub at Heathrow was one of the key reasons for London's development into an economic powerhouse. That position is now being seriously undermined because we have neglected to properly plan."
The Government's long-awaited study into new runways in the South-East is expected on about July 22, though it is not believed to include recommendations on where to build them.