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British Airlines sees 50 mln sterlings hit from weather disruption

07 January 2011 14:02 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. British Airways (BAY.L) said on Thursday that the underlying upward trend in passenger traffic remained intact despite a weather-induced downturn last month that will cost it 50 million pounds, Reuters reported.

Total passenger traffic for December was down 8.3 percent on the year, BA said, while cargo traffic fell 10.2 percent, reflecting a spate of flight cancellations after heavy snowfalls paralysed airports in Britain, the U.S. and Europe.

BA said it expected to take a 50 million pound hit from the disruption in its third quarter, with some further losses expected in January because of cancelled return journeys.

But BA head of investor relations George Stinnes said the traffic figures would have risen modestly, in line with the previous three months, had it not been for the extreme winter weather.

"If you look at the total for October and November, we were up 3.5 percent and 3.9 percent, and September was up 1.3 percent in total -- that is the kind of trend that you would have expected to continue," he told reporters on a conference call.

The downturn last month was entirely attributable to the cold weather, which forced BA to cancel some flights on eight separate days, Stinnes added.

BA shares, which were up 2.4 percent shortly after the announcement, extended gains and closed up 4.4 percent, making the company the FTSE 100’s top riser.

Last month was Britain’s coldest December since records began in 1910, with freezing temperatures and snowstorms weighing on retail sales and contributing to a surprise slowdown in service sector growth.