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Despite the negative effects of the credit crunch and rising fuel costs, airlines are still attracting customers, according to an air transport consultancy service.

While the era of cheap flights may be coming to an end, claims British Airways (BA) chief executive Willie Walsh, travellers will still fly with airlines offering competitive prices, claims Ascend.

Peter Morris, chief economist at Ascend, said: 'The twin affects of the slowing of GDP, and the impact of higher fuel prices, [will create] an unavoidable cost for airlines. However, within that, there are opportunities for companies to do better than their peer group.'

By utilising fuel-efficient aircrafts, airlines can offer cheaper flights than their rivals and pull in the customers who can still afford air travel.

'Companies that have got more fuel-efficient planes, and fly with higher load factors, are going to do a bit better than average. So, the major low-cost carriers, who are able to put the cheapest fare on the marketplace, even with higher fuel prices, are going to continue to pick up traffic,' added Mr Morris.

BA announced record profits of £875m after releasing its preliminary results for the year ending 31 March.

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