BAA weathers ash cloud chaos with losses halved

AIRPORT operator BAA halved its first-half losses, helped by lower one-off charges, as passenger numbers fell 4.5 per cent on disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud and strikes by British Airways staff.

BAA, which is owned by Spanish firm Ferrovial, said its pre-tax loss narrowed to 279.7 million as revenues climbed 2.2 per cent to 957.6m.

The company, whose accounts cover Heathrow and Stansted airports but not BAA's Scottish assets, said both London airports continued to benefit from strong retail momentum with income per passenger up 10 per cent.

Colin Matthews, BAA's chief executive, said: "Heathrow and Stansted delivered an encouraging performance during the first half and this partly offset the impact of volcanic ash and the British Airways cabin crew strikes."

The company took a 36m hit due to the spread of ash from the erupting volcano in Iceland, which grounded much of European air traffic for a week in April.

Matthews added: "Airports and airlines are facing continuing economic challenges."