3rd Quarter Results

British Airways PLC
4 February 2002

PART 1

Q3 LOSSES LOWER THAN EXPECTED

  • Q3 pre-tax loss of £160m.
  • Operating loss of £187m for the quarter.
  • Total costs down 8.5 per cent.
  • RPKs down by 20.3 per cent.
  • ASKs reduced by 16.3 per cent.

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London, Monday February 4, 2002: British Airways today reported pre-tax losses
for the three months to December 31, 2001 of £160 million against a pre-tax
profit of £65 million for the same period last year.

The three month pre-tax figures took the results for the nine months to a loss
of £115 million, (2001: £215 million profit).

Operating loss for the quarter was £187 million, (2001: £80 million profit). For
the nine months, operating loss was £65 million (2001: £441 million profit).
Passenger yield in the third quarter was up 0.3 per cent.

Group turnover for the third quarter was down 19.9 per cent and passenger
capacity reduced by 16.3 per cent, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs).
The reduction in traffic volumes of 20.3 per cent, measured in revenue passenger
kilometres (RPKs), reflects the effects of the terrorist attacks in the USA and
the slowdown in the US economy. Seat factor was down 3.3 points to 65.2 per
cent.

Passenger and cargo capacity, measured in available tonne kilometres (ATKs),
fell 12.7 per cent. Total costs fell by 8.5 per cent but unit costs increased by
5.7 per cent. This reflected the swift actions taken by British Airways after
September 11 and ongoing cost reductions already in place.

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                                   Losses lower than expected......./2

Rod Eddington, British Airways' Chief Executive, said: 'These results reflect
the massive impact on revenue of September 11 and the ongoing economic slowdown.
We have made real progress in managing our costs but British Airways still faces
a number of other considerable challenges some of which were apparent before the
terrorist attacks on the USA.

These are being addressed as part of our Future Size and Shape review which will
outline the steps necessary to deliver an acceptable rate of return in the
market environment of the future.'

Lord Marshall, the airline's Chairman, said: 'The general economic weakness in
many of our key markets is expected to continue, however, the initial
uncertainty and concern caused by the events of September 11 have diminished and
as a consequence there is an improving revenue trend.'

                                     -ends-

February 4, 2002 017/KG/2002

Note to Editors:

  • ASKs: The number of available seats multiplied by the distance flown.

  • ATKs: The number of tonnes of capacity available for passengers and cargo
    multiplied by the distance flown.

  • RPKs: The actual number of passengers carried multiplied by the distance
    flown.

  • A webcast of British Airways' conference call to city analysts can be
    accessed via the internet - www.bashares.com - on Monday, February 4 at 2pm.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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