BA to axe business class on short haul flights
06.02.10
Willie Walsh, the chief executive of BA, has 'called time on European business-class travel', saying that the service will not survive the recession, the Times reports. With businesses cutting travel budgets, the added expense of flying executives in slightly larger seats for one or two-hour journeys has become unsustainable, especially with the added air tax burden on the service, he said.
BA has seen a sharp drop in short-haul business-class passengers as they either trade down to the economy cabin or fly with budget carriers instead. Mr Walsh said: ‘Short-haul premium will never recover. That part of the business has changed forever and we have to address it.’
BA is understood to be reviewing its short-haul operations, and its premium seats could be removed from planes operating out of Gatwick and other regional airports. However, the Times suggests that BA may continue to offer premium seats in short-haul flights operating from Heathrow, to take advantage of business-class transfer traffic.
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