British Airways reported a heavy fall in traffic in April as the chaos at Terminal 5 combined with an increasingly difficult market.
Passenger numbers were down 7% on April 2007, with BA conceding its problems at the new Heathrow terminal hit transfer traffic.
The change in the timing of Easter and its separation from the school holidays this year complicate the comparison with 2007, but a near 9% fall in economy traffic compared suggest the deteriorating economic outlook is having an effect.
The number of business class passengers rose 3.4% year on year. BA noted: “Long-haul non-premium traffic shows significant weakness.”
The carrier said Terminal 5 had now completed more than three weeks of normal operation. However, the airline will not complete the switch of long-haul services to T5 until October.