Traffic & Capacity Stats

British Airways PLC
4 January 2001



               TRAFFIC AND CAPACITY STATISTICS - DECEMBER 2000

Summary of the headline figures

Capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres, fell by 4.3 per cent in
December. Traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres, rose by 5.7 per
cent comprising a 5.6 per cent growth in premium traffic and a 5.7 per cent
growth in non-premium traffic. This compares with Millennium-impacted December
1999, when premium traffic grew by 5.2 per cent and non-premium traffic fell
by 8.1 per cent. Passenger load factor for December 2000 of 67.4 per cent was
6.3 points better than December 1999 and 2.5 points better than December 1998.
Traffic grew in all regions, led by Americas which saw traffic growth of 7.6
per cent. UK Domestic traffic has continued to be strong in the wake of rail
disruption, with double digit growth in load factors over the same period last
year. Cargo, measured in Revenue Tonne Kilometres, decreased by 2.7 per cent.


For the third quarter, capacity fell by 3.9 per cent with traffic falling by
1.3 per cent. Premium traffic rose by 2.4 per cent while non-premium traffic
fell by 1.9 per cent. The passenger load factor rose by 1.9 points to 68.6 per
cent.


Market conditions

Overall trading conditions remain good. While traffic volumes may slow with
capacity reductions, the pricing environment continues to be favourable.


Costs

As a result of the change in the sterling:yen exchange rate, there will be a
non-cash accounting credit of £65 million in the third quarter financial
results.


Strategic developments

British Airways announced the results of its review of Gatwick operations,
which marked a shift from previous attempts to build Gatwick as a transfer
hub. The key elements of the plan, which will be implemented over two years,
include reducing longhaul destinations served from Gatwick from 43 to around
25, through cutting some destinations and relocating other services to
Heathrow. Gatwick's shorthaul business will be refocused on serving the needs
of London and South East England, and the operations and management of the two
Gatwick shorthaul subsidiaries will be simplified, including the consolidation
of operations at the North Terminal.


Thomas Cook and British Airways announced that they plan to merge their
existing UK scheduled businesses, Thomas Cook Holidays and British Airways
Holidays outbound business, to create a joint venture company. The company
will be owned on a 50/50 basis by Thomas Cook and British Airways.


British Airways appointed Mike Street, the airline's Director for Customer
Service and Operations, to the company's Board.


British Airways added Zambian Air Services (ZAS) as a franchise partner. ZAS
will begin flying from Johannesburg to N'dola twice a week and from
Johannesburg to Lusaka three times a week, using Boeing 737-200s. It is
anticipated that more routes will be added over time.


Moody's Investor Services rated British Airways' debt as A3, with a stable
outlook.








January 4, 2001

BRITISH AIRWAYS MONTHLY TRAFFIC AND CAPACITY STATISTICS
                                 Month of December          Financial year to
                                                                  date
                                                              April through
                                                                December
BRITISH AIRWAYS MAINLINE                Change                       Change
SCHEDULED SERVICES          2000  1999     (%)       2000       1999    (%)
Passengers carried (000)
UK/Europe                   1588  1539    +3.2      18017      18007   +0.1
Americas                     586   545    +7.5       6443       6451   -0.1
Asia Pacific                 168   162    +3.6       1650       1697   -2.8
Africa and Middle East       243   238    +2.1       2236       2109   +6.0
Total                       2585  2485    +4.0      28346      28265   +0.3
Revenue passenger km (m)
UK/Europe                   1392  1383    +0.6      16194      16346   -0.9
Americas                    4009  3726    +7.6      43998      44063   -0.1
Asia Pacific                1663  1576    +5.5      16264      16426   -1.0
Africa and Middle East      1653  1562    +5.8      14742      13825   +6.6
Total                       8717  8247    +5.7      91199      90660   +0.6
Available seat km (m)
UK/Europe                   2454  2561    -4.2      24178      25040   -3.4
Americas                    5902  5995    -1.6      57746      59515   -3.0
Asia Pacific                2209  2488   -11.2      21127      22033   -4.1
Africa and Middle East      2364  2463    -4.0      21921      21057   +4.1
Total                      12929 13507    -4.3     124972     127644   -2.1
Passenger load factor (%)
UK/Europe                   56.7  54.0    +2.7 pts   67.0       65.3   +1.7 pts
Americas                    67.9  62.1    +5.8 pts   76.2       74.0   +2.2 pts
Asia Pacific                75.3  63.3   +12.0 pts   77.0       74.6   +2.4 pts
Africa and Middle East      69.9  63.4    +6.5 pts   67.3       65.7   +1.6 pts
Total                       67.4  61.1    +6.3 pts   73.0       71.0   +2.0 pts
Revenue tonne km (RTK) (m)
Cargo tonne km (CTK)         401   412    -2.7       3684       3423   +7.6
Total RTK                   1281  1241    +3.2      12815      12459   +2.9
Available tonne km (m)      1929  1968    -2.0      18548      18516   +0.2
Overall load factor (%)     66.4  63.1    +3.3 pts   69.1       67.3   +1.8 pts
NON-MAINLINE SERVICES
Passengers carried (000)     591   832   -28.9       5895       6813  -13.5
Revenue passenger km (m)     411   729   -43.7       4428       6346  -30.2
Available seat km (m)        667  1166   -42.8       6615       9655  -31.5
Total RTK (m)                 32    72   -54.8        397        625  -36.4
Available tonne km            61   112   -45.8        664        934  -28.9
TOTAL GROUP SCHEDULED SERVICES
(including Deutsche BA, Go, Air Liberte (1999) & Cityflyer Express
w.e.f. 5.11.1999 for vlys)
Passengers carried (000)    3176  3317    -4.2      34240      35078   -2.4
Revenue passenger km (m)    9128  8977    +1.7      95627      97006   -1.4
Available seat km (m)      13596 14673    -7.3     131587     137300   -4.2
Total RTK (m)               1313  1313    -0.0      13212      13084   +1.0
Available tonne km (m)      1990  2080    -4.3      19212      19450   -1.2

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