Company Watch - British Airways.

For more company news, data and analysis, please go to: http://www.airguideonline.com/professional.htm Jun 12, 2006

British Airways[sup.1] CEO said that the carrier needs to be satisfied that the additional cost and complexity associated with a new fleet type is justified by increased capability and performance. "The A380 is in evaluation, but you have to bring a strong argument for BA to have [it] in our fleet," he stated. He noted that BA operates 57 747s and does not see the A380 "as a necessary replacement for this huge number of aircraft." Jun 8, 2006

British Airways will begin scheduled services from Nottingham East Midlands and launch thrice-weekly flights to Tenerife South on Oct. 31 under the banner of its regional subsidiary BA Connect and operated by franchise partner GB Airways. Jun 8, 2006

British Airways[sup.1]s CEO said that he does not feel pressure to move quickly on successor types. "We have a relatively young fleet. Replacement is not an immediate requirement," he said, adding that fleet expansion will come ahead of replacement. BA is casting a wide net and is looking at the 747-800, 787, A380 and A350, which reportedly has been renamed the A370. However, it is looking most closely at the 777, since it holds "10 options from the end of 2008 until 2010," Walsh said. It already has 43 777s in the fleet "that work very well in the mix with our 747-400s." He also said that the carrier needs to be satisfied that the additional cost and complexity associated with a new fleet type is justified by increased capability and performance. "The A380 is in evaluation, but you have to bring a strong argument for BA to have [it] in our fleet," he stated. He noted that BA operates 57 747s and does not see the A380 "as a necessary replacement for this huge number of aircraft." Jun 8, 2006

Pensions before planes, BA's Walsh stresses. British Airways intends to resolve its pension issue before it moves forward with significant long-haul aircraft orders and does not want to take delivery of any new types ahead of its 2008 move into London Heathrow's Terminal 5, CEO Willie Walsh confirmed earlier this week at a meeting of oneworld executives ahead of the IATA AGM.The carrier has proposed a series of measures aimed at lowering its current pension deficit, which totaled [pounds sterling]2.07 billion ($3.87 billion) at the end of March, and slowing the rate at which future obligations accrue. Jun 8, 2006

British Airways flew 9.66 billion RPKs in May, a 6.9% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.1% to 12.97 billion ASKs and load factor went up 1.3 points to 74.5%. Jun 7, 2006

British Airways and Malev Hungarian Airlines signed a codeshare agreement effective Nov. 1, placing BA's code on Malev's twice-daily London Gatwick-Budapest flights and seven Eastern European routes from BUD. Malev will place its code on BA's thrice-daily London Heathrow-BUD service and on flights to five British markets from LGW. Jun 7, 2006