Demand for air travel has fallen significantly in North America since the start of the war in Iraq - but much less so in Bermuda, according to a top airline executive visiting the Island this week.

William (Woody) Harford is vice president of field sales, North America for British Airways. He has responsibility for sales in Bermuda in the airline's corporate hierarchy.

Mr. Harford has been visiting Bermuda this week to talk to travel agents and the airline's larger corporate clients, "to demonstrate how committed we are to Bermuda", he said, adding: "Bermuda is considered an important part of our route network."

BA has recently added a fourth weekly flight to its Bermuda schedule. Elsewhere in the organisation, a programme called "Future Size and Shape" is reducing staff and flights around the world as BA deals with falling demand in the face of war.

"Uncertainty caused by the war has forced all airlines, including BA, to look at costs, to assess where they are spending their money and where adjustments can be made to withstand the impact of what has been a dramatic drop in travel," Mr. Harford said.

"We remain committed to being a full-service airline," he continued.

"We have pared about four percent of our capacity and tried to minimise the disruption to our services in the Middle East.

"We have a strong route network there and remain committed to providing service."

Mr. Harford said that there had been a "disproportionate" decline in business travel in North America since war began. "Companies are postponing travel decisions, rather than cancelling them," he said.

"Corporate policies run the spectrum from no change in their travel policies to a total ban, although most fall somewhere in the middle of those two extremes."

Companies initially put their plans in place based on a short, sharp conflict, Mr. Harford said, and as the war wore on, he expected those policies to be reviewed. "Commerce can't stop," he said.

As BA faces the reality of reduced travel plans, rather than simply firing staff it has been offering employees creative alternatives, such as sabbatical leave, or a leave of absence without pay. "They are valued employees, who have an enormous amount of experience with customers," he said.

Mr. Harford was quietly confident about the future.

"As an airline and a business, we will absolutely survive this," he said. "This airline is as strong as it's ever been.

"Cash is king right now and we need to conserve and spend it wisely.

"We need to put our resources into those parts of the travel business that matter to our clients."

Mr. Harford has worked for BA since 1992.

Based at the airline's North American headquarters in New York, he is responsible for all of the sales and sales strategy activities of its field sales organisation in the US, Canada and Bermuda.

Last week, BA announced a package of measures in response to the conflict in Iraq, none of which affect Bermuda. The measures include:

an overall capacity reduction of four percent in April and May, involving reduced frequencies and the use of smaller aircraft;

a planned reduction of 13,000 staff by March 2004 to be brought forward to September this year

an extension of the company's unpaid leave scheme for staff; and

a review of all capital expenditure and external spending.

Chief executive Rod Eddington said: "There are clearly tough times ahead and experience has shown us that conserving cash is critical at these times."