Now Germans Win Airline World Title From Britain

After dominating the skies for decades, British Airways is set to lose its title as the world's favourite airline - eclipsed by arch-rival Lufthansa.

The German carrier is on course to transport more than 32 million passengers on international flights this year, against BA's 31m.

While other airlines such as US giants American, Delta and United and All Nippon of Japan sell up to 100 million seats a year, most of their passengers fly only domestically.

BA is allowed to call itself the world's favourite because it carries more international passengers than anyone else to an unrivalled spread of destinations. The slogan was coined in the Eighties by Saatchi and Saatchi.

BA may soon not even be the world's second favourite airline. While Lufthansa will soar ahead this year, fast-growing Air France will be on track to steal the number two slot by 2006, resulting in BA being pushed back to third place.

Some observers believe that BA lost its sense of direction when it dropped the union flag from its tailfins in 1997 in favour of cosmopolitan art - only to restore the red, white and blue later after widespread criticism.

But Marie Oldham, managing partner at advertising strategy advisers Media Planning, said the airline's imminent fall from grace was only symbolic of Britain's waning influence both in Europe and the global stage.

'BA bottled out of expansion and of the low-cost airline battle until it was too late and Britain as a nation has bottled out on the single currency,' she said. 'When the world thinks of Europe now it thinks of Germany and France as the leaders, not Britain, and that is mirrored by our national airline.

'It is the final confirmation that we are no longer a great power in the world - another nail in the coffin of Cool Britannia.'