Agents warned of rising air fares
16-May-08 Christy Wyatt
Travel agents and operators will face increasingly high airfares, according to Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways.
Record oil prices are causing many airlines to struggle, he said.
David Wickers, director of Bridge and Wickers, which specialises in luxury travel to Australia and New Zealand, said: “Low fares are over for the foreseeable future. It will add to the cost of holidays. But the destination is such as major holiday for most they factor in the cost. We will be relatively immune to it. The luxury and long haul end of the market will suffer far less.”
However, short haul agents could suffer, he added. “The additional cost will have a greater impact there,” he told Luxury Travel.
This morning, Walsh told the BBC’s Today programme: “I think the era of very low fares, certainly in the short term, is behind us because oil prices remain at record levels.”
The news comes after a series of problems following the launch of Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
Walsh also announced he would not take a bonus, despite BA’s £883m profit for the year ending 31 March.
“Despite the fact that it was a record year in terms of our financial performance, I advised the chairman that I thought it would be inappropriate,” he added.
