British Airways has said the disruption caused by the severe weather conditions over the festive period could end up costing as much as £50 million. As ice and snow halted operations BA suffered a drop in traffic of 8.3 per cent compared to the same time last year. The wintry weather meant that the UK's flag carrier was forced to cancel hundreds of scheduled services. As well as the closure of airports in the UK, including Gatwick and Heathrow, flights were affected by severe weather across Europe and on the eastern seaboard of the US.
However, things are looking up for Rolls-Royce whose image was damaged at the end of last year when one of its engines exploded on a Qantas jet shortly after take-off from Singapore. The manufacturer has had an order worth $5 billion confirmed by BA.
The order includes Trent 900 and Trent 1000 engines for the airline's Airbus A380s and Boeing Dreamliners. Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive, said the conclusion of the deal was pleasing and meant the airline looked strong going into the future.
Cargo volumes were down during December by 10.9 per cent. Passenger numbers dropped from 2.4 million in December 2009 to 2.1 million in December 2010. The bad weather is being blamed in part for a capacity drop of 12 per cent.
The airline said it expected some financial knock-on in January because of the cancellation of return journeys. However, the possible £50 million bill is less than the £108 million the airline lost when the Icelandic ash cloud grounded BA's fleet earlier last year.