BA September passenger figures dash hopes of a recovery in aviation sector
FLAG carrier British Airways (BA) carried 0.8 per cent fewer passengers in September year-on-year, dashing hopes the commercial aviation industry was recovering from the deep slump caused by the global recession.
The airline, whose alliance with American Airlines and Iberia is being scrutinised by Europe’s competition watchdog, said yesterday its premium, or business class, passenger numbers continued to tumble, falling 7.9 per cent on the 2008 figure. Non-premium traffic rose 0.7 per cent.
Its load factor – a measure of how full its planes are – rose 2.4 percentage points to 81.3 per cent, with the airline saying it expected to deliver year-on-year growth by early 2010.
“In January, the comparative figures take another step down and there’s every chance of getting into positive territory then,” the airline said.
“Until then we see traffic flattening and steadying.”
It added that “discussions continue” with Iberia over a merger and that talks could come to head “sooner rather than later” once the issues surrounding governance were ironed out.
Meanwhile, budget airline Ryanair said it had carried 6.12m passengers in September, 17 per cent more than a year ago, while the average flight was slightly fuller than last September. Its load factor increased one percentage point to 85 per cent.