British Airways (BA) said today first-quarter earnings rose 20 per cent as expected thanks to fuller planes and demand for business-class travel.
Europe's third-largest airline also tipped full-year revenues to rise 6 to 7 per cent, up from its previous guidance of 5 to 6 per cent, but said costs excluding fuel would be higher due to staff pension costs.
Operating profit for the three months to June 30th was £211 million (€311 million) compared to £176 million a year ago.
A recovery in first and business class traffic, new routes to India and China and demand for trans-Atlantic flights have helped BA offset record fuel prices.
The airline said it still expected fuel costs to at least £550 million more than last year, in line with earlier guidance. However, increased pension contributions pushed up employee costs in the quarter by 7 per cent.
BA also said July passenger traffic rose 4.4 per cent and its load factor - a measure of how well it is filling planes - was 82.3 per cent in the month.