New routes to Shanghai and Chicago

摘要

Gareth Kirkwood, head of British Airways World Cargo (BAWC), oozes confidence. For the last three years BAWC has been ahead of targets. The financial results for 2003/04 were good. The volume of cargo carried across the international network increased by 6% to 4,460 million cargo-tonne-kilometres. And volumes continue to grow. But so do costs. « This is a big headache. Fuel costs for the group are now GBP 150 million above budget. They are considerably higher than expected, said Kirkwood. Whilst fuel costs do not touch his bottom line as far as belly freight (80% of turnover) is concerned, it has a massive impact on the profitability of his freighter operations (20% of turnover and growing, up from 15% in 2002/ 2003). And it makes the situation difficult for his company and the industry as a whole.