British Airways’ profit in the three months to the end of June outstripped the £267 million in fines imposed on it this week for price-fixing.
The carrier reported a £289 million profit for the quarter, up £98 million on the same period last year. Its operating profit was £263 million, with a margin of 12% on sales.
BA will pay the record fines out of a £350 million provision in its accounts for the last financial year. However, it still faces investigations in Brussels, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, and potentially costly class-actions from lawyers representing corporations and passengers in the US.
Chief executive Willie Walsh said: “These are very good results despite operational difficulties at Heathrow.”
The profit increase came primarily from cost-cutting, with Walsh reporting the airline’s revenue as flat. He blamed this on the continued impact of security and baggage restrictions on short-haul and premium transfer traffic.
Separately, BA reported a 2.6% fall in premium passenger traffic in July and a 2.9% drop in economy compared with a year ago. The average proportion of seats sold on its flights was down two percentage points to 81%.