Strikes clip the wings of British Airways

The airline carried just under 2.3m passengers last month – a 14.6 per cent reduction on the March 2009 total of slightly more than 2.6m.

BA attributed half of the decline to winter capacity reductions and half to the strikes which saw cabin crew walk out from March 20-22 and March 27-30. The decline last month was most marked in the Asia Pacific sector, which was down 25.3 peer cent compared with March 2009.

UK and Europe traffic fell 18.6 per cent, while Africa and Middle East flight passenger numbers were down 10.3 per cent and traffic to North and South America (including the Caribbean) was down 3.7 per cent. BA planes flew 74.7 per cent full last month – an increase of 2 per cent on the March 2009.

BA said the total impact of the strike action last month was estimated to be 40m-45m. BA said that over the first strike weekend last month it operated 78 per cent of its long-haul programme and 50 per cent of short-haul flights.

For the second strike weekend, these figures rose to 83 per cent and 67 per cent respectively. For the seven days of strikes, the airline operated 79 per cent of long-haul flights and 58 per cent of short-haul.

Economy-class passenger numbers were down 12.2 per cent last month, while premium traffic (first-class and business-class) declined 7.2 per cent.

The Unite union, representing the cabin crew, pledged not to take any action over Easter and is yet to announce any further strikes. The dispute, over cost-cutting and jobs, remains deadlocked with little sign of an early breakthrough.

Meanwhile, budget airline Ryanair today announced it flew 5.3 million passengers last month – a 13 per cent increase on the March 2009 figure.

Ryanair's planes flew 79 per cent full in March 2010 – a 2 per cent rise on the same month last year.