FORM 6

 

 

 

FORM 6-K

 

 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

 

 

Washington, DC 20549

 

 

 

Report of Foreign Issuer

 

 

Furnished Pursuant to Rule 13a - 16 or 15d - 16 of the

 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

 

For the period ending 5 February 2003

 

 

 

BRITISH AIRWAYS Plc

 

 

Waterside HBA3, PO Box 365, Harmondsworth UB7 0GB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

Traffic and Capacity Statistics January 2003

5 February 2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

 

 

 

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorised.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BRITISH AIRWAYS Plc

 

 

 

Date:

5 February 2003

   
     

Sarah Billington

Manager Shareholder Services

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRAFFIC AND CAPACITY STATISTICS - January 2003

Summary of the headline figures

In January 2003, overall load factor improved by 0.9 points to 63.4 per cent. Passenger capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres, was 2.8 per cent below January 2002 and traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres, was lower by 1.8 per cent. This resulted in a passenger load factor improvement of 0.6 points versus last year, to 69.2 per cent. The fall in traffic comprised a 7.6 per cent reduction in premium traffic and a 0.8 per cent decrease in non-premium traffic. Cargo, measured in Cargo Tonne Kilometres, increased by 0.5 per cent.

 Market conditions

The economic and political environment continues to be challenging.

 Strategic Developments

British Airways announced its shorthaul summer 2003 schedule which includes new routes from London Gatwick and Manchester airports and increased services on profitable routes to Europe.

At Gatwick, a new service will start to Krakow in Poland three times a week and services to Athens will be reinstated with six flights a week. There will be extra daily flights to Italian destinations including Rome, Genoa, Venice and Verona and an extra weekly service to Naples. An additional weekly flight will operate to Pristina in Kosovo.

At Heathrow, there will be an additional daily service to Brussels and Copenhagen, three extra weekly flights to Helsinki and two extra weekly flights to Larnaca in Cyprus. Services to Belgrade will move from Gatwick to Heathrow where there will be four flights each week. At Manchester, there will be three new services with daily flights to Bologna, Pisa and Vienna and extra daily frequencies to Geneva, Glasgow, Hanover and Rome and an additional weekly service to Lyon. Services to Gothenburg will be suspended.

The airline began wearer trials of a new uniform for customer contact staff.

British Airways submitted its detailed response to the CAA as part of the consultation process on airport charges. It said an increase in airport charges of 6.5 per cent above inflation at Heathrow from April 2003 - 2008 means airlines are being asked to pay £300m in advance for airport services which they and their passengers won’t benefit from for many years. The submission also said the increase in charges was based on an unreasonably high cost of capital at 7.75 per cent compared with BAA’s historic cost of capital of below 7 per cent. Other UK utility regulators use a cost of capital of 6-6.5 per cent. Financial analysts’ cost of capital estimates are in the range of 6-7 per cent.

ends

February 5, 2003 008/CW/03

 

BRITISH AIRWAYS MONTHLY TRAFFIC AND CAPACITY STATISTICS

Month of January

Financial year to date

April through January

Change

Change

SCHEDULED SERVICES

2003

2002

(%)

2002/3

2001/2

(%)

Passengers carried (000)
UK/Europe

1848

1794

+3.0

22597

23271

-2.9

Americas

521

504

+3.3

5658

5613

+0.8

Asia Pacific

128

159

-19.7

1318

1478

-10.8

Africa and Middle East

247

236

+4.6

2147

2322

-7.5

Total

2743

2693

+1.9

31720

32684

-2.9

Revenue passenger km (m)
UK/Europe

1415

1376

+2.8

17761

18704

-5.0

Americas

3552

3495

+1.6

38155

38374

-0.6

Asia Pacific

1331

1656

-19.6

13473

14896

-9.6

Africa and Middle East

1695

1615

+5.0

14512

15715

-7.7

Total

7993

8142

-1.8

83901

87689

-4.3

Available seat km (m)
UK/Europe

2550

2575

-1.0

26361

29824

-11.6

Americas

5091

4997

+1.9

51846

53340

-2.8

Asia Pacific

1725

2149

-19.7

17353

20485

-15.3

Africa and Middle East

2180

2153

+1.2

20515

22317

-8.1

Total

11545

11875

-2.8

116076

125966

-7.9

Passenger load factor (%)
UK/Europe

55.5

53.4

+2.1

pts

67.4

62.7

+4.7

pts
Americas

69.8

69.9

-0.1

pts

73.6

71.9

+1.7

pts
Asia Pacific

77.2

77.1

+0.1

pts

77.6

72.7

+4.9

pts
Africa and Middle East

77.8

75.0

+2.8

pts

70.7

70.4

+0.3

pts
Total

69.2

68.6

+0.6

pts

72.3

69.6

+2.7

pts
Revenue tonne km (RTK) (m)
Cargo tonne km (CTK)

310

308

+0.5

3528

3334

+5.8

Total RTK

1120

1133

-1.2

11922

12114

-1.6

Available tonne km (m)

1766

1813

-2.6

17832

19129

-6.8

Overall load factor (%)

63.4

62.5

+0.9

pts

66.9

63.3

+3.6

pts

 

Certain information included in this statement is forward-looking and involves risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward looking statements.

Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, projections relating to results of operations and financial conditions and the Company's plans and objectives for future operations, including, without limitation, discussions of the Company’s ‘Future Size and Shape’ programme, expected future revenues, financing plans and expected expenditures and divestments. All forward-looking statements in this report are based upon information known to the Company on the date of this report. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

It is not reasonably possible to itemise all of the many factors and specific events that could cause the Company’s forward looking statements to be incorrect or that could otherwise have a material adverse effect on the future operations or results of an airline operating in the global economy. Information on some factors which could result in material difference to the results is available in the Company’s SEC filings, including, without limitation the Company’s Report on Form 20-F for the year ended March 2002.

 

Investor Relations

Waterside (HCB3)

PO Box 365

Harmondsworth

UB7 OGB

Tel: +44 (0) 20 8738 6947

Fax: +44( 0) 20 8738 9602