I am sure most peeps will know this is my favourite airline - I fly them and I buy them.

Currently I hold a quarter unit as a longer term investment which is also useful for shareholder benefits.

I will be looking to substantially add at the right time and not afraid to trade them either intraday or more probably as a swing trade.


ains




Shadow of conflict looms large over British Airways as firm fights to recover

TRACEY BOLES - Scotland on Sunday

BRITISH Airways will warn that the prospect of war with Iraq casts a long shadow over its full-year this week when it posts third quarter figures in line with expectations.

Lord Marshall, the BA chairman, is expected to tell analysts that political uncertainty could push the airline, still struggling to recover from the effects of September 11, further into reverse.

"Iraq is a key driver for everything," said a source close to the airline.

BA has admitted privately to analysts that transatlantic bookings for this March are "appalling" as the uncertainty stirred up by the prospect of war exerts an influence. Earnings estimate downgrades are now highly likely.

However, analysts believe a loss for the full year is still not on the cards.

Pre-tax estimates for the full year currently stand at up to 140m. BAs performance, which represents a strong recovery from the 180m loss posted in the equivalent quarter after September 11, has been driven by a vigorous cost-cutting programme rather than by revenue, which is still flat.

It will announce tomorrow that it is on track to achieve cost savings of 450m by the end of March through a process of shedding jobs and loss-making routes under its future size and shape strategy.

By the end of next month 10,000 jobs will have gone under the programme. "BA has weathered the storm better than most by getting costs under control," said one analyst. "In Europe, only Iberia has done likewise."

Third quarter operating profits are expected to be around 30m to 40m, in line with analysts expectations, with pre-tax figures between a 10m loss and 5m profit. The consensus is break even.

The airline has impressed experts by taking the threat posed by low-cost carriers seriously.

Geopolitical and economic problems are affecting demand air travel, especially on long-haul routes. BAs premium services are still under pressure, recent traffic figures revealed.

A speedy Gulf war will lead to a relief rally for the airline sectors shares which are depressed at the moment. However, BA itself has warned that prolonged conflict could trigger a slump in aviation equivalent to that seen after September 11.

Chris Tarry, former aviation analyst at Commerzbank who now runs CTAIRA said: "I believe that the last quarter has been very tough on the revenue side and indeed they have indicated this themselves.

"Unfortunately the outlook is no better - even without a war. The reality of the economic situation in the UK was underlined with the rate cut.

"Add to that the structural downward shift in fare levels and then the uncertainty over war - it doesnt bode well.

"Furthermore, given the uncertainty caused by Iraq let alone an actual war, it is pretty clear that the transatlantic market will be dire in the summer."

BA has traditionally depended on transatlantic traffic for its revenue.

Shells chairman, Sir Philip Watts, also admitted last week that the oil giant was preparing for "uncertain times" ahead.

He said Shell had looked at the range of possibilities that could occur and had "a plan for every eventuality".

Jesus wepped ..... shagnasty seems an appropiate name




BRITISH AIRWAYS RE-LAUNCHES ITS EXECUTIVE CLUB




06 May 2003
- ADDED BENEFITS FOR FREQUENT FLYER MEMBERS -

British Airways is to introduce a series of changes to its Executive Club loyalty programme from 1 July 2003 to make the scheme simpler, with more ways to spend BA Miles and better incentives for loyal customers.

The Executive Club, which has almost five million members worldwide, is split into three levels of membership - Blue, Silver and Gold.

Key changes include:

The creation of a global Executive Club, by merging the five existing schemes into one programme

Customers will now for the first time be able to use their BA miles to upgrade to the next cabin on eligible tickets and to also use a
combination of cash and BA miles to purchase a ticket

Improvements to the website to enable members to manage their accounts entirely on-line, including redeeming their BA Miles.

A new classification system which enables customers to redeem their BA miles on a geographical zone basis rather than on a route by
route basis

The introduction of a household account which allows up to seven members of the family to earn points and pool BA Miles in order to
achieve benefits of the Executive Club quicker. This scheme replaces the Middle East Family Passport Programme.

Entry and renewal thresholds to the Silver and Gold tiers have been aligned to make gaining and maintaining tier status simpler and fairer.

The ability to earn more points in each of the premium cabins, including World Traveller Plus, Club World, First and Concorde.

All Executive Club members will now be able to book their redemption tickets up to three days before departure on routes where e-
tickets are available. This is down from the 14 days notice required under the old terms and conditions

New customers wishing to join as a Blue member will now have to take one qualifying flight a year to gain and to also maintain their
annual membership

Steve Allen, British Airways Area Marketing Manager for UAE & Oman, said: By simplifying the club and creating a single global programme our objective is to deliver better service to our loyal customers and offer them more chances to take advantage of flying with British Airways.

The global simplified scheme will allow British Airways to respond much better to our customers feedback and offers greater opportunities to add more benefits in the future for our members.

All active British Airways Executive Club members around the world have been written to in one of the biggest communication exercises the airline has ever undertaken.

-Ends-

Notes to Editors:

Due to the realignment of entry and renewal thresholds some members may not in July have the required number of points to
maintain their current tier status, in this case they will be given a 12 month free extension period to enable them to adjust to
the new terms and conditions.

For more information, contact
Leanne Blackenberg,
Promoseven PR,
Dubai,
Tel +00971 4 3368826,
Fax +971 4 3368609/96 or
email leanne@promoseven.com


Press Release 2003

ticking up @ 135p and very close to the year's high ......



ains

3rd in the ftse250 risers board intraday @ 143p @ plus 6% and at a 6 month high :-))

Durlatcher has them as atrading buy up to 165p

TRAFFIC AND CAPACITY STATISTICS - April 2003

Summary of the headline figures

In April 2003, overall load factor rose 0.7 points to 64.6 per cent. Passenger
capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres, was 1.3 per cent below April
2002 and traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres, was lower by 2.0 per
cent. This resulted in a passenger load factor down 0.4 points versus last year,
to 69.0 per cent. The fall in traffic comprised a 26.4 per cent reduction in
premium traffic and a 2.7 per cent increase in non-premium traffic. These
numbers were impacted by the timing of Easter versus last year. Cargo, measured
in Cargo Tonne Kilometres, fell by 7.3 per cent.

Market conditions

Revenue and forward bookings continue to be impacted by global economic
weakness, SARS, and the situation in Iraq. Forward visibility on revenue and
traffic remains limited.

Strategic Developments

British Airways announced the retirement of its Concorde fleet of seven aircraft
with effect from the end of October 2003.

A U.S. Department of Transportation order tentatively gave British Airways and
American Airlines authority to codeshare on a wide number of flights beyond
their gateways in London and the United States.

British Airways launched a new direct air link from Glasgow to London City
operated by its wholly owned subsidiary, British Airways CitiExpress, using 110
seat RJ100 jet aircraft. This follows the launch of flights from London City to
Paris and Frankfurt on March 30th. There will be three return flights on
weekdays and one return service on Sundays.

British Airways resumed flights from Heathrow to Tel Aviv and Kuwait and
re-introduced direct services to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Bahrain, Jeddah and
Riyadh. It also announced plans to return to Baghdad with a thrice weekly
service, when it is safe to do so.

British Airways franchise operator, GB Airways, announced the introduction of
another two destinations Fuerteventura and Tenerife North - to its network from
the UK.

Ends

Merrill Lynch said the worst was over for the airline industry and Citigroup Smith Barney upgraded its rating to "outperform". Citigroup reckons BA is the best play on a return to normal political and economic conditions.

9 May 2003, Evening Standard

BRITISH Airways and Qantas, which today applied to Australian regulators for an indefinite extension to their joint-services agreement, warned if it were not approved, they may have to cut flights to Britain, Europe and Singapore. The agreements have turned the London to Sydney route from a loss-maker into one of the airlines' most profitable.

Williams de Broe has buy ratings for BAA, British Airways

<>

Yes Ains ive traded BAY long a few times of late irs been profitable...



Your still an evil, twisted lonely ramper who has untold losses since the highs of late 99/00, even if you were raking it in, money or success wouldnt help you....

i got three business seats on Virgin for 50% each of the BA price, we share holders have been asking for such discounts for years from these arrogant management louts, and still no agreement, all the staff get nice perks from our investment though.I feelanother snotty letter coming on.

shag
Of course you did, living in your dream world again, you sad sad boy, get a life.
Guru

GURU
are you completely so devoid of anything to say that you have to post this pathetic imbecilic stuff, do you realise what a complete and utter oaf you make yourself look; by stating that I have not the means to buy three flights on an airline, does it make you feel better to think that?
I tell you, if you, and the other five- de-filtered tonight by the way to see you in action-I need a laugh-are not one person you certainly deserve each other, you could get psychoanalysed together at a cut rate.
Tell me , as the obviously stupid person you are, what on earth makes you think in such a disjointed futile way, is it a family sickness , or are you self taught?
Read your post again and blush.

ps , the "get a life " is a dead give away, I expect you say 24/7, babe, and go to karaoke with super-odd at Butlins

ROTFLMAO

Williams de Broe has buy ratings for British Airways (BAY)

Flying high right now @ 140p and set to go higher

H2 on the 19th


ains




LONDON (AFX) - British Airways PLC's overnight flight to Nairobi is operating as scheduled but all other flights to and from Kenya have been cancelled until further notice, a BA spokesman in Nairobi said.
"The move follows instructions from the British government Department of Transport that all registered airlines that fly to Kenya are to supsend flights with effect from 10.00 pm due to heightened security concerns in the region," he said.

Kenya Airways spokeswoman Grace Njau told Agence France-Presse the airline had "not received any advisory" from the British government.

"Flights are scheduled as normal and the last flight will leave at 11.40 pm for London," she said.

The Association of British Travel Agents earlier said Britain is suspending all flights to and from Kenya from today because of an "imminent" terror threat.

LONDON (AFX) - British Airways PLC is likely to withdraw from the consortium that owns Eurostar after National Express announced on Wednesday it was pulling its investment, the Financial Times reported, citing the company.
The paper quoted BA as saying, "In the light of the announcement by National Express, British Airways is certainly considering our position regarding Eurostar and are in discussions with the other shareholders."

Apart from the poor financial performance by Eurostar, which is thought to be losing some 100 mln stg a year, the withdrawals are being prompted by a restructuring of the company that operates passenger services through the Channel tunnel.

Eurostar comprises three separate companies, running the UK, French and Belgian parts of the network. National Express owns 40 pct of Eurostar UK, with French and Belgian state rail companies SNCF and SNCB owning 25 pct each and British Airways has 10 pct.

But Eurostar is working towards streamlining the three companies into a single entity before the end of the year, a plan code-named Project Jupiter. tf/rn

BA profits nosedive amid 'perfect storm'

Shocking last quarter loss of 250m takes shine off full-year return to the black

Nick Mathiason
Sunday May 18, 2003
The Observer

British Airways, Europe's biggest airline, will reveal a dramatic fall in final-quarter profits as the full effect of the Iraq war takes the shine off

its resurgent full-year financial performance.
Tomorrow BA, led by Australian Rod Eddington, is expected to report pre-tax losses of 250 million in the three months to 31 March - compared with 85m profit the previous year.

This shocking figure does not include any effect from the Sars virus outbreak in South-east Asia, which has decimated business travel.

Analysts say the Iraq war, the Sars outbreak and the reluctance of North Americans to cross the Atlantic will inevitably mean BA enters the first quarter of its new financial year in the red.

'We are in the midst of the perfect airline storm,' said JP Morgan's aviation analyst, Chris Avery. 'It was a pretty devastating last quarter.'

But BA is expected to report full year pre-tax profits of just above 66m - against a 200m loss for the previous year, which was the worst result since the firm was privatised nearly 20 years ago.

BA's performance is markedly stronger than its European rivals, which the company attributes to its moves to cut 10,000 jobs, reduce capacity, simplify its fleet and adopt the online ticketing tactics used by its low-cost rivals.

Overall, BA is on track to make savings of 450m and will reaffirm its commitment to its 'future size and shape strategy', aiming to rationalise the company in a harsher business climate.

But the airline will also confirm a 1 billion pension shortfall. BA will not comment on whether this will require additional funding until an actuarial review is completed in the autumn. Analysts say BA may have to find an extra 100m to make good the shortfall.

Earlier this month Britain's biggest budget airline, EasyJet, revealed that it had slumped 48m into the red during the six months to March, sparking concern in the City that the spectacular success of low-cost carriers could yet prove shortlived.

There are also concerns about a glut of new no-frills competitors who have started flying over the last 18 months.

Key government proposals to build more airport runways must be abandoned, a think-tank will say this week.

In its report on the future of aviation, the Institute of Public Policy Research will slam the Government for being 'in hock' to the airline industry, and will advise that existing capacity at airports be utilised more efficiently before expansion is considered.

The IPPR demands that the aviation industry's contribution to climate change through harmful fuel emis sions and land-hungry development be recognised. At present airlines pay no tax on fuel or VAT on tickets.

Later this year the Government will announce whether new runways are needed at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. The British Airports Authority and airlines are lobbying strongly for them to be built.

But opponents say predictions for airline growth are wildly over-optimistic, and new runways will cause untold environmental problems

Aggressive job cuts put BA in line for return to profit

GUY DIXON Scot on Sunday


INVESTORS should get a strong indication about the real health of the economy as some of the UKs best-known firms report figures this week.

Blue chips BT, Marks & Spencer and Scottish & Southern Energy will all get their chance to update investors on progress, but it is British Airways that will set the ball rolling tomorrow.

The company has had a rough ride in the last year. This time last year it posted pre-tax losses of 200m for the 12 months to March 31, as competition from low-cost rivals and the fall-out from September 11 took their toll.

The flag carrier has since been battered by a new round of well-publicised difficulties in the airline sector in the run-up to war in Iraq and, more recently, Sars. And its falling share price saw it relegated from the FTSE 100 Index twice in the last year.

But BA has been aggressive, tackling costs by cutting capacity as the war loomed and bringing forward its on-going programme of job cuts, with the remaining 3,000 from a 13,000-strong cull now going by the end of September rather than March 2004. Analysts profits forecasts ahead of its full-year results on Monday vary widely from 56m to 225m.

High-street store Marks & Spencer will not see the benefits of the Easter retail boost when it issues profits for the year to the end of March on Tuesday because of the timing of the holiday.

But guidance throughout has been clear. At the time of its fourth-quarter trading statement, the company said that full-year profits would come in at the top end of analysts expectations - which ranged from 710m and 720m, adjusting for the 10m one-off cost of moving its head office to Londons Paddington Basin.

Analysts are not expecting many surprises on Wednesday when National Grid Transco issues full-year results.

In its most recent trading update, the group said profits would be impacted to the tune of 30m by its decision to suspend recognition of pension surplus credits. Analysts at stockbroker Gerrard expect pre-tax profits to come in at 1.23bn, compared to 797m last year.

Telecoms giant BT may have changed its logo, but continuity rather than drama is expected when it releases final results on Thursday. With no exposure to the mobile market, profits growth is not expected to be overly dramatic and investors will be looking at other indicators, such as margin improvements.

Nevertheless, Gerrard hopes for pre-tax profits of 1.86bn - last year bottom-line profits were 1.46bn.

Perhaps of more interest will be its pension fund. Although the recent rise in the stock markets will have taken some of the bad taste off any pension deficit, the well-publicised effects of the bear market on pension funds in general has highlighted the need for companies to change their weighting to depend less heavily on equities.

Interim results from InterContinental Hotels on Thursday will reflect the downturn in the industry caused by the lead up to war and the outbreak of Sars.

Covering the period from October to March, they are also likely to show that operating profits are even more depressed than under the ownership of SixContinents, the leisure group from which it demerged just weeks ago.

Analysts at Gerrard are forecasting interim profits of 80m for this first-results statement from the company.

May 18, 2003

BA faces a 1bn pension fund hole
Dominic OConnell S TIMES



BRITISH AIRWAYS will tomorrow reveal that the deficit in its main pension fund has trebled to nearly 1 billion two-thirds of the airlines market value because of falling equity markets and the increased cost of pension provision.
Pensions experts believe the airline may be forced to make extra contributions of about 50m a year to the fund from January.

The pensions chasm will cap gloomy results from BA. The airline is expected to report a small pre-tax profit around 40m for the year ended March 31, but Rod Eddington, the chief executive, is not expected to issue any guidance for this financial year. Analysts had expected him to follow the lead of Air France, KLM and Lufthansa and give outline guidance.

The impact of the Iraq war, the Sars virus, terrorism fears and the economic downturn have forced BA to cut weak routes and slash fares.

Most analysts expect the company to make a small operating profit in this financial year, but to fall into the red at the pre-tax level.

Eddington is understood to be weighing further cuts to regional operations and to its network from Gat- wick, which continues to lose money.

Several other British companies are expected to reveal hefty pension deficits this week.

The biggest hole revealed by the FRS17 test is likely to be at BT, the telecoms group that publishes full-year results on Thursday.

Some forecasts put the deficit as high as 7.5 billion, compared with BTs 16.5 billion market value. BT is expected to say that it does not anticipate having to increase its annual contributions to the fund.

Royal Mail is expected to reveal a pension deficit of nearly 4 billion.

BA has two pension funds, Airways Pension Scheme (Aps) and New Airways Pension Scheme (Naps).

The combined deficit at the last annual results was 319m. Aps is understood to be roughly at break-even, but Naps heavily in deficit. Naps was closed to new members on March 31.

A full actuarial valuation of BAs pension will be undertaken by the end of the year. The company will then have to decide whether it needs to increase its contributions.

Its a big deficit, but they can spread the load over a number of years, and in the meantime there is the likelihood of a recovery in equities. I think the additional contributions could be in the order of 50m to 80m a year, said one leading airline analyst.

Should be an interesting situation and one will need to see how real life compares with the forecasts .... I have a limited position at this time and will be prepared to jump either way ...



ains