British Airways bosses remained bullish about the future today despite announcing a massive profits slump.

For the six months to September 30, pre-tax profits were £45 million, down £105 million on the same period last year.

Some of the toughest trading came during the second quarter, with pre-tax profits down to just £5 million.

The group, which had already been hurt by the US recession and the effects of foot-and-mouth on tourism, saw passenger numbers plummet even further after September 11.

The airline, which employs 10,000 people at Gatwick Airport, has announced 7,000 job cuts over recent months and chief executive Rod Eddington could not rule out more losses in the future.

But despite the gloomy update he said he was confident BA would pull through.

He said: "We will survive the industry crisis. We have already taken sufficient actions to control costs and conserve cash."

BA said its net debt of around £6.5 billion was "manageable" and there were no immediate plans to sell any assets.