British Airways says traffic down

British Airways warned that economic pressures on passengers may begin to hit demand for flights as it reported May traffic down 0.7 per cent year-on-year yesterday.

The company, which raised its fares last week to offset the soaring cost of fuel, said long-haul economy travel was already weak and that it remained to be seen how regular flyers would cope with having less disposable income.

"We have not seen a significant impact on volume so far, but clearly the pressure on people's budget is greater today than a year ago," BA head of investor relations George Stinnes told reporters, citing higher petrol costs and utility bills as factors.

"Customers are fairly accepting of a (rise in) fuel surcharge; they know it is a cost being passed on... But it depends on how essential people think foreign holidays are," he said, adding that short-haul weekend breaks were particularly vulnerable to a downturn.

British Airways said short-haul business travel as well as long-haul economy travel were weak last month, though long-haul premium traffic, which includes the key London-New York route, was slightly ahead of last year.