British Airways has predicted its fuel bill will rise to £3 billion in 2009, equating to a third of its overall costs.
Speaking at the Guild of Travel Management Companies’ conference in Istanbul, BA head of sales Drew Crawley said by next year the airline’s fuel costs will have tripled since 2005.
Priorto BA releasing its annual financial results today, Crawley warned that its rising oil bill was forcing the airline to revise its prediction of achieving 10% margins.
He said when the price of oil rises above $117 a barrel, it can only break even.
“With prices now at $126 a barrel, it doesn’t take much to work out that you might be losing money if you don’t take action,” he said.
Crawley warned of a “toxic combination” of weakening revenues and ever increasing fuel prices.
“I think this is the last we will see of double digit growth for some time,” he said.
By : Bev Fearis
