Ash knocks BA passenger figures

British Airways claims that underlying traffic volumes continue to improve even though the volcanic ash from Iceland led to a 22.4% reduction in revenue passenger kilometres in April. Passenger capacity dropped 20.9%, which meant that the passenger load factor held up reasonably well at 76.6%, down from 78.1% in March. There was a 19.8% decline in premium traffic and a 22.9% drop in non-premium traffic. The cargo load factor edged up to 71.5%. The biggest falls in passenger revenues were in Europe and Asia Pacific. Despite its optimism BA admits that there are challenges that affect the outlook. BA will publish its annual results on 21 May. Bay Capital