BRITISH Airways’ drive to steamline activities to just profitable core airline operations has led to the sale of its stake in Galileo International.
BA sold its 6.7% stake back to Galileo for £192m, making the airline a profit of £149m.
A BA spokesman confirmed the carrier’s decision was made in line with a policy of getting out of any non-core airline business.
Galileo agreed to buy BA’s subsidiary Britair Acquisition Corp which held 7m shares.
Two years ago, BA made £157m from its part-sale of 5.9m Galileo shares after saying a stake in the computer reservation system was not a strategic investment. BA set up Galileo in 1973 with a group of airlines including KLM and United Airlines. They sold their stakes last year.
The Galileo sale comes after BA sold off its Gatwick-based catering operation to Alpha Airports Group earlier in the month.
Both will help to turn the airline’s fortunes around following its drop in annual pre-tax profits to £225m in the year to March 31.