British Airways, the flag carrier of United Kingdom, is getting ready to stop flights and reduce capacity in the near future in order to deal with the record high levels of oil prices. This is not a surprising move as lots of airlines are expected to follow suit in the similar fashion.

According to the reports of the London Telegraph, BA chief, Willie Walsh, would examine the carrier's flights on a route-by-route basis in order to find out what should be cut so that losses can be minimised.

While giving a presentation at a meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Mr. Walsh indicated that the carrier could mothball a few of its older aircrafts, in a bid to save money. If BA chose this route, it will trail the example of Qantas, which reached the decision to adopt this strategy previously this year.

BA chief noted that all carriers are in 'unchartered waters' and there are no other option but to review their routes and stop services on all unprofitable ones.

Walsh further said that it does not make sense to keep on operating services or routes that either hold the company's finances back, or do not yield any positive contribution, especially at a time when the oil prices continue to rise.

Although BA chief stressed that the company continued to have a healthy balance sheet, it still couldn't manage to be complacent in the current situation.