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British Airways is under pressure to improve its operations as the summer travel rush begins, after a difficult year which has seen its rate of cancellations soar above its rivals. The airline has cancelled 4,033 flights from UK airports over the past year, nearly double that of low-cost rival easyJet, according to data from aviation analytics company Cirium. That equated to 2.3% of its flights from the UK, well above the industry average of 1.4%. “BA is still suffering from years of cost cutting,” said Chris Tarry, an aviation industry consultant. “In my view BA still has a long way to go, and once you lose a customer it takes a long time to win them back”. The figures expose how BA’s creaking technology, operational complexity and exposure to London’s Heathrow airport, which operates at full capacity, have combined to leave the airline under pressure as millions of travellers prepare for the summer holidays. The problems were epitomised in late June when a “temporary technical fault” with BA’s baggage systems, the latest in a long line of glitches at the airline, caused sweeping disruption to passengers with some planes delayed, others taking off without luggage and many left waiting hours for their bags. “Undoubtedly the operation is BA’s Achilles heel. They are a premium airline and historically it was an airline which had exemplary reliability,” said John Strickland, an aviation consultant and former BA executive. The target for cancelled flights should be 1% or lower, he added. BA is by no means alone in suffering from a myriad of issues, including serious delays and cancellations caused by air traffic control problems. Wizz Air was forced to pare back its schedules dramatically because of engine troubles on many of its aircraft, while Germany’s Lufthansa has suffered sweeping disruption because of strikes.<br/>

Cathay Pacific has outlined plans to redeem and cancel its remaining preference shares held by the Hong Kong government related to a recapitalisation carried out in 2020 after the pandemic hit. The Oneworld carrier last year redeemed half the preference shares held by Hong Kong government-owned Aviation 2020. and it has now announced plans to redeem the remaining shares, worth up to HK$9.98b ($1.28b), by the end of July. Once completed it would mean all preference shares would be cancelled, as would Aviation 2020’s right to appoint two observers to the board. The preference shares were issued as part of the airline’s recapitalisation in the summer of 2020 and gave the state, through Aviation 2020, a 6% stake in Cathay Pacific. Cathay Pacific reached 80% of pre-pandemic flight capacity in the second quarter and says it remains on track to reach 100% within Q1 2025. <br/>