What´s in the world –and in the sky- is wrong with British Airways?

British Airways carried 3.9 percent fewer passengers in August, revealing the impact of last month´s wildcat strikes by catering and baggage staff that forced it to call off hundreds of flights.

The biggest impact was felt on its premium-class cabins where traffic fell by 4.7 percent, BA said, appearing to bear out analyst concerns that last month´s strikes and the ongoing disruption to its onboard meal service would turn away the airline´s core market of high-end customers.

BA was forced to suspend all its flights for around 30 hours last month when a decision by its caterer Gate Gourmet Inc. to fire almost half its London staff touched off strikes by workers at both companies. Cargo operations were disrupted for a further 24 hours as the airline focused on getting its passenger planes into the skies.

BA´s revelation that passenger numbers fell to 3.101 million in August came as Irish budget airline Ryanair Holdings PLC, which is a rival to BA on European short-haul services, said it carried 3.257 million over the same period –marking the first time it has carried more passengers than BA in a single month.

BA´s front office added that record fuel prices and currency swings were making accurate profit forecasting more of a challenge than usual, but reiterated its forecast that total revenue for the year to March 2006 would grow in the range of 5.5 to 6.5 percent.

The company has now increased its fuel hedging cover for the rest of this financial year to 81 percent at an average cost of $45 a barrel. It previously had 75 percent hedged at $43 a barrel.