British Airways says that premium traffic – first and business class passengers – rose in August for the first time in nine months. However, premium volumes are still well below previous levels.

A spokesperson said overall market conditions are still broadly unchanged, with traffic volumes remaining very sensitive to yield.

In August, the overall load factor increased 0.1 points to 69.6 per cent. Passenger capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres, was 3.6 per cent above August 2002 and traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres, was 4.8 per cent higher.

The company says it will endeavour to reduce its distribution costs in order to improve profitability. From 1 December, the airline will introduce a commission based payment scheme of one per cent for UK travel agents who make British Airways bookings. This replaces sector payments, which were introduced in April 2001.

A set of codeshare flights has been announced with American Airlines, that will add more than 100 new destinations to the network. Details: www.britishairways.com