British Airways has described a press release issued by trade newspaper Travel Weekly claiming that the airline is to pull out of the shorthaul market as irresponsible nonsense.

Bob Ayling, Chief Executive, said: “British Airways has no plans to stop flying in the UK or Europe. On the contrary, we building up our shorthaul network, with many new flights from Gatwick this summer in particular. We are investing in more aircraft to operate on these routes and, as Travel Weekly itself points out, we have already announced plans to unveil later this year a whole package of improvements to the services we provide in-flight and on the ground in Europe. Action speaks louder than words.”

The Travel Weekly press release also suggested that British Airways had told its employees that it had “privately been given the go-ahead for its alliance with British Airways” (sic).

Assuming Travel Weekly meant by this the BA-American Airlines alliance, British Airways described this report as “balderdash”.

Bob Ayling said: “While the regulators in Europe are nearing the completion of their investigation, the Department of Transportation in the USA is still in the early stages of its review. Until we hear from the regulators we would not be in a position to tell anyone what the precise outcome is.”

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