Report by John Lavabre
BRITISH Airways is to sell its budget airline Go.
BA, which has today released second quarter results to
September 30, said the sale will improve future performance.
BA chief executive Rod Eddington said: “Given the strategic
goals we have set for the group as a whole, now is the time for British Airways
to gain the benefits of its investment and realise the considerable value it
has created in Go.”
Eddington added British Airways is taking a “ruthless
approach” to poorly performing routes and assets.
Loss making routes are to be dropped and smaller aircraft
are also to be introduced to reduce the number of less profitable seats.
Changes will also be made to short haul operations from Gatwick.
Other highlights of the results show:
* A 400% rise in pre-tax profits to £200 million for the second quarter.
Allowing for the £50 million loss reported in the first quarter, half yearly
profits now stand at £150 million
* Operating profit for the quarter rose 125% to £264
million. For the half year, the figure now stands at £361 million.
* An interim dividend of 5.1 pence is to be maintained per
share.
* Premium traffic rose 7.7 %.