BA's passenger numbers dive

First class and business passenger numbers dived by more than 3% at British Airways last month, piling the pressure on the flag-carrier whose fuel bill is soaring, up by more than a third in the last two months.

Just weeks after BA announced record profits of £883 million for 2007-8, the picture is worsening for the airline, which many analysts now expect to make just a fraction of those earnings in the current year.

Traffic statistics for June show that premium paying passengers - those at the front of the aircraft who make up the vast majority of BA's profits - fell by 3.1%. In economy, numbers fell 3.8%.

All markets are struggling. In the UK and Europe, where BA carries nearly two-thirds of its passengers, numbers fell by 2%.

On transatlantic routes, historically the cash cow for BA, numbers were down 4.3%.

Worse, on Middle East and Africa routes, identified as one of the big growth segments for BA, passengers numbers crashed 7.6%.