Traffic & Capacity Statistics - October 1999

British Airways PLC
3 November 1999

          TRAFFIC AND CAPACITY STATISTICS - OCTOBER 1999

Introduction summary of the headline figures
British Airways mainline scheduled Available Seat Kilometres
(ASKs) in October grew by 0.6 per cent (although for the rest of
the year capacity will reduce by around 1%).  Traffic, measured in
Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs), fell by 0.2 per cent. Premium
traffic rose 8.2 per cent, with Club World again the strongest
driver.  This is set against a 2.4% decline in premium traffic in
October 1998.  A second BA Popular Person offer has recently been
launched to continue to drive premium traffic growth.  Non-premium
traffic was 1.7 per cent lower.  Passenger load factor was 0.6
points lower at 72.0 per cent.

Market conditions
Although trading conditions remain highly competitive, these are
encouraging figures.  Yields continue to be under pressure, and
there must be some caution around travel patterns for the
Millennium period, when demand will be difficult to forecast.

Strategic developments
British Airways announced that it has placed an order for 12 new
100 seat Airbus 318s, with options to purchase 12 more aircraft.
The move to the new, smaller A318 is a further step in the
airline's forward looking fleet strategy which will modernise the
carrier's fleet, increase average yields and reduce capacity.

The purchase of CityFlyer Express was completed after British
Airways received approval from the Secretary of State for Trade
and Industry, subject to undertakings which were offered by
British Airways during the Competition Commission's investigation
of the transaction.  There is no requirement for British Airways
to divest slots.  British Airways, its subsidiaries and
franchisees now operate around 47% of the slots at London Gatwick.

British Airways and LanChile announced an agreement to co-operate
further on air travel between the UK and Chile. Frequent flyer
miles will be redeemable on each other's services, with further
exploration into codeshare opportunities. The new benefits will
begin in June, shortly after which LanChile will join the oneworld
alliance.

British Airways announced that it is to operate an additional
three services between Heathrow and Lagos, Nigeria, in conjunction
with Nigeria Airways. The airline currently operates a daily 747
400 from Gatwick to Lagos, and will now operate six services a
week from Heathrow to Lagos in co-operation with Nigeria Airways.

Costs
Fuel prices were relatively steady through October, with jet
kerosene currently trading at around $210 a tonne, compared to
approximately $165 per tonne at the end of our first quarter.  The
level of fuel hedging for the balance of the financial year is
approximately 85%.

The yen continued to strengthen against sterling.  At the end of
October, the value of the yen stood at  Yen 173 to the pound,
compared to Yen 175.70 at the end of September 1999.

Other highlights
In the United States, a US District Court Judge unconditionally
dismissed all outstanding claims brought by Virgin Atlantic
Airways against British Airways in the United States.

The British Airways Online Press Office has now gone live. All
press releases for the year, including the traffic statistics
commentary, are now available at www.britishairways.com/press.

  BRITISH AIRWAYS MONTHLY TRAFFIC AND CAPACITY STATISTICS
                                                                 
                          Month of October      Financial year to date        
                                                 April through October
                                                                  
BRITISH AIRWAYS                 Change                   Change   
MAINLINE                            
SCHEDULED SERVICES    1999   1998   (%)       1999   1998     (%)   
                                                                  
Passengers carried (000)
UK/Europe             2094   2138  -2.0      14721  15043    -2.1   
Intercontinental      1173   1195  -1.8       8276   8254    +0.3   
Total                 3267   3332  -2.0      22997  23297    -1.3   
                                                                  
Revenue passenger km (m)
UK/Europe             1892   1914  -1.2      13420  13606    -1.4   
Intercontinental      8607   8608  -0.0      59904  59662    +0.4   
Total                10498  10522  -0.2      73323  73268    +0.1   
                                                                  
Available seat km (m)
UK/Europe             2860   2821  +1.4      19760  19220    +2.8   
Intercontinental     11720  11668  +0.4      80757  80291    +0.6   
Total                14580  14489  +0.6     100517  99511    +1.0   
                                                                  
Passenger load factor (%)
UK/Europe             66.1   67.9  -1.8 pts    67.9  70.8    -2.9 pts          
 Intercontinental     73.4   73.8  -0.4 pts    74.2   74.3   -0.1 pts
Total                 72.0   72.6  -0.6 pts    72.9   73.6   -0.7 pts
                                                                              
        
Revenue tonne km (RTK) (m)
Cargo tonne km (CTK)   427    382 +11.8       2579   2523    +2.2   
Total RTK             1468   1429  +2.7       9879   9826    +0.5   
Available tonne       2127   2072  +2.6      14541  14213    +2.3   
km (m)
                                                                  
Overall load          69.0   69.0  +0.0 pts   67.9   69.1    -1.2 pts
factor (%)                                                                    
                                              
TOTAL GROUP SCHEDULED SERVICES
(including Deutsche BA, Air Liberte)
Passengers            3867   3900  -0.9      27069  27216    -0.5   
carried (000)
Revenue passenger    10998  10976  +0.2      76978  76699    +0.4   
km (m)
Available seat km    15341  15216  +0.8     105958 104780    +1.1   
(m)
Total RTK (m)         1517   1476  +2.8      10248  10179    +0.7   
Available tonne       2200   2143  +2.7      15063  14725    +2.3   
km (m)
                                                                    

                                                   Shareholder Value

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