The opening debacle at Heathrow's Terminal 5 is expected to cost British Airways about £16m, the airline announced yesterday.

However, it added that this amount was far less than the cost of earlier fog-caused disruption at Heathrow and that T5 was now running "very well".

Also, there was no sign that bookings had dipped following the disastrous T5 opening, BA group treasurer and head of investor relations George Stinnes said.

A full Saturday service - when slightly fewer flights take off and land than on weekdays - was expected to operate this weekend. Mr Stinnes added: "We expect next week to get back to a full weekday programme."

He was speaking after BA announced its March 2008 traffic figures, which showed passenger numbers totalled just under 2.72 million last month - a 2.8% dip on the March 2007 figures.

BA's UK and European passenger levels fell 2.8% last month, while passenger numbers to North and South America were 0.6% down, with Asia Pacific down 6.0% and Africa and the Middle East down 5.7%.

Premium traffic - passengers travelling in first and business class - was down 5.0% last month, while non-premium (economy) traffic fell 2.3%.

BA planes travelled 75.4% full last month compared with 76.3% in March 2007.

BA said: "The figures also reflect the events which surrounded the opening of Terminal 5. The impact was borne by the short-haul schedule, where there were 300 cancelled flights, equating to 0.2% of capacity.

"The financial impact of these events is estimated to be around £16m, reflecting all costs associated with the disruption and lost revenue opportunities."

BA went on: "Comparisons between March 2007 and March 2008 are complicated by the timing of Easter, which fell in April in 2007, and by the de-linking of UK school holidays from the Easter period and into the middle of April.

"This altered both premium and non-premium travel patterns, an impact which is also likely to be seen in April's statistics."

l WORKERS on Glasgow Airport's new Skyhub extension celebrated a milestone yesterday as the building's physical structure was completed.

The £30m expansion, due to open in 200 days, includes a new retail and restaurant area and a purpose-built security section to reduce waiting times.

A "topping out" ceremony yesterday marked the completion of work on the structure's highest point. The airport's managing director, Gordon Dewar, said: "The Skyhub is the biggest investment at this airport for a generation. It forms part of an ongoing process, building towards the 2014 Commonwealth Games."