Fuel surcharge increased

British Airways PLC
18 April 2006



FUEL SURCHARGE INCREASED


British Airways is to increase the fuel surcharge on its longhaul flights from
Friday April 21, 2006 as a result of further rises in the price of fuel.


The longhaul fuel surcharge on tickets sold and issued in the UK will increase
from £30 per sector to £35 per sector (£70 return trip).   The shorthaul fuel
surcharge will remain unchanged at £8 per sector (£16 a return trip).


Martin George, British Airways' commercial director, said: 'Our fuel costs
remain a real burden.  The price of oil has risen above $70 a barrel and experts
anticipate it staying at these levels for some time.


'Our annual fuel bill for 2005/2006 is expected to be some £1.6 billion.  We
estimated previously that this would rise by £400million in 2006/2007 but at
these prices, we would now expect this year's fuel bill to be £600 million
higher at £2.2 billion.


'This latest fuel surcharge rise is very regrettable but we have little choice
to pass some of our extra costs on to our customers.   Fuel is our second
largest cost after employee costs.


'We believe that it is better to be transparent with our customers by showing
the level of fuel surcharge they are paying rather than hide the costs by
raising fares behind the scenes like some other airlines choose to do.  This
approach would enable us to reduce the surcharge should fuel prices fall over
time.'


The additional fuel surcharge only applies to tickets issued from Friday April
21, 2006. It does not apply to tickets already paid for and issued.


British Airways will look to increase its fuel surcharges to similar levels on
longhaul flights sold in overseas markets.


                                             ends

April 18, 2006                                        031/GJ/06


Notes to editors:



History of fuel surcharges on all British Airways' flights booked in the UK
since May 2004.


May 13, 2004: Introduced a £2.50 per sector surcharge on longhaul and shorthaul.
For all flights booked outside the UK the airline introduced a fuel surcharge
of USD $4 per sector.


August 11, 2004: Surcharge increased to £6 per sector on longhaul. Shorthaul
remained at £2.50.  Outside the UK, the longhaul fuel surcharge increased to
USD$10 per sector with shorthaul remaining at USD $4.


October 14, 2004: Surcharge increased from £6 to £10 per sector on longhaul and
from £2.50 to £4 per sector on shorthaul. Equivalent rises in other markets
outside the UK.


March 22, 2005: Surcharge increased from £10 to £16 per sector on longhaul and
from £4 to £6 per sector on shorthaul. Equivalent rises in other markets outside
the UK.


June 27, 2005. Surcharge increased from £16 to £24 per sector on longhaul and
from £6 to £8 per sector on shorthaul. Equivalent rises in other markets outside
the UK.


September 12, 2005.  Surcharge increased from £24 per sector on longhaul to £30
per sector.  Shorthaul remained unchanged at £8 per sector.  Equivalent rises in
other markets outside the UK.


British Airways is hedged against the cost of fuel.  The airline has 65 per cent
hedging cover between April and June 2006 at $55 per barrel, 55 per cent at $57
per barrel between July and September 2006 and 57 per cent hedged at $57 per
barrel between October and December 2006.


Despite this, the price of oil continues to rise and therefore the price at
which we hedge also increases.


It now costs almost 400 per cent more than it did in December 2001 to fill up a
plane.






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