BA passenger numbers down only 4.4% despite strike threat

British Airways enjoyed an encouraging last month of 2009, according to passenger figures out today.

Despite the fact that some customers would have been deterred by the threat of a Christmas cabin crew strike, BA carried only 4.4% fewer passengers in December 2009 than in December 2008.

With the strike being called off following a court ruling, a total of 2.4 million people travelled on BA flights last month, with the biggest fall (down 7.7%) being on Asia Pacific traffic.

BA’s planes were 76.8% full last month – a fraction better than the 76.7% figure achieved in December 2008.

The airline said its Club World long-haul business class traffic rose 1.6% last month and its long-haul business and first-class numbers continued to show signs of improvement.

The airline also said that 98% of its flights operated last month despite the pre-Christmas bad weather.

Meanwhile, budget airline easyJet, which had to axe a number of flights because of the snow before Christmas, reported today that it had carried 3,399,305 passengers in December – a 9.3% rise on its December 2008 figure.