Airport News
BA profits up by 45%
Mon, 19 May, 2008
British Airways (BA) has announced full-year gross profits of £883 million, an increase of 45 per cent on the previous year.
BA shareholders will receive their first dividend in seven years following the positive results.
But aviation analyst John Strickland believes that airlines may struggle to remain successful as the cost of oil rises and customer demand is affected by wider economic problems.
He told the BBC: "The whole industry is faced with the rising cost of fuel. British Airways has indicated that could put its costs up by upwards of a billion pounds in the year ahead.
"And there's also increasing competition for British Airways, particularly on its routes to North America," he concluded.
In related news, BA's subsidiary OpenSkies has just received approval from the US department of transport to commence transatlantic operations.