British Airways flights to Australia cut

British Airways will reduce flights between Britain and Australia in the next four months, in the latest sign that the recovery in demand for international travel has been slower than expected.
The British-flag carrier will drop its daily flight from Sydney to London via Singapore in March, leaving just one daily 747 service, via Bangkok. It will do the same for 18 days in May and will cut services slightly in April and June.

The regional commercial manager for the south west Pacific, Nicole Backo, said the cancellations reflected weak demand, but she stressed: We are seeing bookings improve.BA and Qantas have faced mounting competition on the kangaroo route from Middle Eastern airlines such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways.Tomorrow BA is expected to report an operating loss of about £200 million ($361 million) for the nine months to December 31, a reversal of the £89 million profit it made in the same period a year earlier.

Qantas's chief executive, Alan Joyce, said this week that a rebound in demand for domestic flights had not been replicated on some international routes.BA has retreated from Australia in the past 10 years, relying on its Sydney-London service and its alliance with Qantas.