BA’s sarnie sales soar

THE boss of British Airways admitted there has been a ‘mixed’ reception to the decision to charge for food on short haul flights – but sales of sandwiches and other snacks have been stronger than expected.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA owner International Consolidated Airlines Group, also said the 10.3pc rise in passengers carried by all its airlines last month showed he was ‘clearly doing something right’.

IAG posted record first quarter profits of £144m, up 9.7pc on the same period last year, despite a 2.8pc slide in sales to £4.2bn.

BA stopped providing free meals on short-haul flights and started charging for Marks & Spencer food.

‘The feedback has been mixed as you would expect,’ said Walsh. ‘But sales on board have exceeded what we expected.’

IAG expects operating profit for 2017 to show an improvement year-on-year. Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, said: ‘These are highly impressive figures.’