April Traffic Statistics
British Airways PLC
4 May 2000
TRAFFIC AND CAPACITY STATISTICS - APRIL 2000
Summary of the headline figures
Premium traffic rose by 7.5 per cent in April. Non-premium
traffic rose by 6.0 per cent, supported by strong Easter
holiday traffic.
Capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres rose by 0.7
per cent in April with Revenue Passenger Kilometres rising
by 6.2 per cent. Consequently, passenger load factor rose
by 3.7 points to 72.6 per cent. In terms of traffic mix by
cabin, premium traffic was strong, despite the Easter
holiday falling wholly within April. This was driven by
longhaul traffic, with shorthaul premium business falling
slightly. Non-premium traffic grew more strongly this
month than at any time during the last financial year,
driven by holiday traffic. Cargo traffic was again strong,
with Cargo Tonne Kilometres up 20.6 per cent. Although all
regions performed well in cargo, Europe sold traffic saw
particularly strong volumes, with the Asia-Pacific and
Middle East, Africa and Indian sub-continent regions
continuing to benefit from strong volumes. The overall
load factor rose by 5.1 points, to 68.6 per cent.
Market conditions
The lower industry capacity growth for the summer schedule
will support both yields and seat factors in the summer
months. While shorthaul routes continue to be under
pressure from low cost carriers, longhaul markets are
performing better.
Costs
Fuel markets continue to be volatile. Group hedging cover
currently stands at 85 per cent for the first quarter and
75 per cent for the full year to March 2001.
Highlights
British Airways announced the appointment of Rod Eddington
as its new Chief Executive, with effect from 1 May.
Strategic developments
Alongside five other major world airlines, British Airways
announced the formation of a company to create and operate
an internet marketplace, linking airlines worldwide with
sellers of airline-related goods and services. The
company, which will have its headquarters in the United
States, will handle approximately $32 billion of the six
airlines' supply chain business annually. The other
founding member airlines are American Airlines, Air
France, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United
Airlines. British Airways currently has an annual
procurement spend of around £3.9 billion, and aims to
increase UK orders conducted on-line from 25% to 80% by
March 2002. Total annual spend savings from procurement
initiatives are forecast to reach £180m by March 2002.
British Airways and Amadeus announced a new partnership
which will transfer management of British Airways' flight
booking, departure control, inventory and related
information systems to Amadeus. This move will free
British Airways' internal resources to focus on IT
developments, including internet based opportunities,
which will provide competitive advantage, as well as
reducing costs and operating a common system with several
oneworld alliance partners.
British Airways teamed up with GetThere.com, the leading
supplier of internet-based business-to-business travel
systems in the US, to launch a new on-line business travel
management system for small and medium sized companies in
the UK. The private access website will be available to
travel agents for their medium to small sized corporate
clients and also to corporate customers who wish to book
directly.
British Airways announced that it had entered into a
period of exclusive negotiation with Taitbout Antibes BV,
a European financial institution, regarding the sale of
its 86 per cent holding in Participations Aeronautiques,
the parent company of Air Liberte.
Following extensive consultation with trade bodies and
travel agents, British Airways announced the payment
levels for the agents' remuneration scheme, which replaces
the standard seven per cent commission payment. This
scheme comes into effect on 1 January 2001. Payments are
higher for longhaul than for shorthaul, and for full fare
flexible tickets than restricted tickets to reflect the
increased workload.
May 4, 2000
MK/60/00
BRITISH AIRWAYS MONTHLY TRAFFIC AND CAPACITY STATISTICS
Month of April
BRITISH AIRWAYS MAINLINE Change
SCHEDULED SERVICES 2000 1999 (%)
Passengers carried (000)
UK/Europe 1937 1921 +0.8
Americas 723 687 +5.2
Far East and 193 179 +7.8
Australasia
Africa and Middle 246 226 +8.6
East
Total 3098 3014 +2.8
Revenue passenger km (m)
UK/Europe 1758 1707 +3.0
Americas 4912 4675 +5.1
Far East and 1870 1719 +8.7
Australasia
Africa and Middle 1608 1453+10.6
East
Total 10147 9554 +6.2
Available seat km (m)
UK/Europe 2642 2682 -1.5
Americas 6469 6514 -0.7
Far East and 2462 2383 +3.3
Australasia
Africa and Middle 2402 2294 +4.7
East
Total 13975 13874 +0.7
Passenger load factor (%)
UK/Europe 66.5 63.6 +2.9 pts
Americas 75.9 71.8 +4.1 pts
Far East and 75.9 72.1 +3.8 pts
Australasia
Africa and Middle 66.9 63.3 +3.6 pts
East
Total 72.6 68.9 +3.7 pts
Cargo tonne km(CTK) 382 316 +20.6
Total RTK 1392 1267 +9.9
Available tonne km(m)2029 1993 +1.8
Overall load factor 68.6 63.5 +5.1 pts
(%)
NON MAINLINE SCHEDULED SERVICES*
Passengers carried 942 641 +46.9
(000)
Revenue passenger 894 619 +44.4
km (m)
Available seat km (m)1251 965 +29.7
Total RTK (m) 62 53 +18.0
Available tonne km (m) 88 74 +19.4
TOTAL GROUP SCHEDULED SERVICES
Passengers carried 4041 3655 +10.6
(000)
Revenue passenger 11041 10174 +8.5
km (m)
Available seat km 15226 14839 +2.6
(m)
Total RTK (m) 1455 1319 +10.3
Available tonne km 2117 2067 +2.4
(m)
*including DBA, Air Liberte, Go & Shareholder Value
Cityflyer Express w.e.f. 5.11.1999 Waterside (HEA3)
PO Box 365, Harmondsworth
West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 OGB
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8738 6947
Fax: +44 (0) 20 8738 9602