BA scales back services in response to war

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British Airways has responded to the war in Iraq with a package of measures to cope with the downturn in business following the beginning of hostilities

The package includes a reduction in flights and the acceleration of the airline's restructuring programme.

BA will reduce capacity by 4% over the next two months, and will use smaller aircraft. Affected services will include the London Heathrow - New York JFK route, which will be reduced to six daily return services. The North Atlantic service as a whole will be reduced by 6%. The target of reducing staff numbers by 13,000, originally scheduled to take place by March 2004, will be brought forward to September of this year. BA will also review its capital expenditure and external spending programmes.

BA ceo Rod Eddington said: "There are clearly tough times ahead and experience has shown that conserving cash is critical at these times. We will continue to review our capacity and forward bookings on a regular basis." The move comes in the wake of the suspension of BA services to Tel Aviv and Kuwait last week.