BA said the situation was further complicated by Easter falling in March, rather than April, meaning the airline missed out on holiday flights as the economy traffic figures plunged nearly 9 per cent.

Business and first-class traffic rose 3.4 per cent.

BA warned that market conditions remained difficult because of the consumer spending downturn. Economy long-haul flights in particular were showing “significant weakness”.

The airline’s load factor, a measure of how full the planes are, fell by 5.1 points to 71.6 per cent.

“People are feeling a bit of a pinch, said a spokesman.

The shares tumbled 9fp to 239p, partly on the gloomy update but also because oil prices surged beyond $122 a barrel.

BA increased its fuel surcharge on all tickets issued from last Friday to cover the higher cost.

In a statement, the airline said Terminal 5 operations “continue to show improvement”, with a “normal schedule” having operated for more than three weeks.

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