They have a lot of hotel rooms to fill, especially in London. September was an unusual month, as hotels made a mint with closure of US airspace.
This report from todays FTmarketwatch makes really bad reading for airlines depending on transatlantic and Japaneese traffic.
Occupancy levels in London hotels plunged to 72.2 percent in September, the lowest level for the key month in at least two decades, a survey on Tuesday showed.
Room rates in the British capital dropped 6.6 percent to an average £117.47 ($167) from September last year as business travellers and tourists cancelled trips in the wake of the terror attacks in the U.S., hotel consultancy PKF said.
Expectations are growing that room rates will come down further in London. PKF is expecting October figures will look worse for London's hotels as the full impact of Sept. 11 is felt and as the hotels cut rates.
The number of rooms occupied by American visitors dropped 45.5 percent for the month. Japanese visitors dropped by 39 percent.
it goes on to say..
North American visitors can account for around a third of revenue for London hotels, which were already seeing occupancy suffer as the economic downturn in the U.S. pressured business travel.