LONDON – British Airways said it is more likely to increase prices after the main summer season than an airline only focused on leisure travel because its customer base provides greater flexibility to raise fares.
“A brand like British Airways, which has got a lot of long-haul, a lot of corporate, a lot of premium, we’d expect maybe to have more pass-through of prices than maybe a carrier who’s solely competing for leisure short-haul,” chief executive officer Sean Doyle told journalists at the International Air Transport Association annual general meeting on June 6.
“But that’s yet to play out over the summer.”
International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, plans to offset 60 per cent of fuel costs through revenue and savings, it said when it reported earnings in May.
The company said it will pay about €2 billion (S$2.98 billion) more for fuel in 2026 because of the Middle East war.
“When people’s purpose of travel is business and doing deals that you’re seeing in the corporate segment, those price increases are kind of peripheral to the reason they’re travelling,” Doyle said.
Airlines across the world are grappling with higher fuel costs because of the conflict in Iran.
Air France-KLM’s strategy to offset higher expenses included pausing hiring and discretionary spending, such as employee travel.
Meanwhile, Deutsche Lufthansa increased revenue from ticket sales and shut down regional subsidiary CityLine. BLOOMBERG
