BA’s April traffic up

British Airways PLC has stated that the downward trend of falling traffic ceased in April and proportionally it filled more seats due to capacity cuts.

Published: 08 May 2009

British Airways PLC has stated that the downward trend of falling traffic ceased in April and proportionally it filled more seats due to capacity cuts.

Traffic measured in revenue passenger kilometers, or RPKs, last month rose 0.9 percent from a year earlier to 9.36 billion RPKs, with total passenger numbers up 1.3 percent at 2.8 million.

BA carried 2.8 million fliers in April compared with 2.7 million a year ago. It said Easter, which was in March last year, helped boost non-premium traffic figures - up 5.2 percent. While Easter helped lift economy travel, the reduction in working days contributed to an 18 percent drop in premium-class custom.

BA said market conditions remained “very challenging, with volume under pressure in premium and yield under pressure in all cabins,” and added that yield weakness is being driven by both price and fare mix.

George Stinnes, BA group treasurer and head of investor relations, said: “To the extent that the swine flu generally decreases people’s propensity to travel may have had an impact, but it’s too early to say.”

Stinnes added that BA was launching cut price offers to attract passengers, including its first two for one offer. It is also slashing capacity on flights across the world to match lower demand, with a two percent reduction expected throughout the summer.

Ryanair’s traffic up

Ryanair carried 5.3 million passengers in April, up 12 percent from a year earlier.

Load factor -- seats filled as a percentage of capacity -- rose to 82 percent from 79 percent in the same month of 2008, it said.

“Ryanair carried 5.3 million passengers in April, an increase of 12 percent, and while some growth can be attributed to Easter falling later this year April was another strong month of growth at the expense of high cost airlines who see passengers continue to switch to Ryanair,” stated the airline.

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