Fuel surcharge increased

British Airways PLC
08 September 2005


FUEL SURCHARGE INCREASED


British Airways is to increase the fuel surcharge on its longhaul flights from
Monday September 12, 2005 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 £24 per sector to £30 per sector (£60 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 hit a record high of just over $70 a
barrel in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.


'Our fuel bill of around £1.6 billion is now our second largest cost after
employee costs.  This latest fuel surcharge rise is very regrettable but we have
little choice to pass some of our extra costs on to our customers.   It now
costs almost 400 per cent more than it did in December 2001 to fill up a plane.


'We believe that it is better to be transparent with our customers about the
price of fuel 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.'


As stated in the airline's traffic and capacity statistics issued on September
5, 2005, total revenue for the year to March 2006 is expected to improve by 5.5
- 6.5 per cent.


The additional fuel surcharge only applies to tickets issued from Monday
September 12, 2005. 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


Thursday September 8, 2005
                                           096/RG/05

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.


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