British Airways is shuttling dozens of empty planes across the Atlantic because it has a shortage of cabin crew, it has emerged.
The "phantom" services have been flying between Britain and Canada and the US over the past two weeks in order to retain valuable slots at London's airports.
Several BA passenger flights took off without a single passenger, using up thousands of tonnes of jet fuel.
The news emerged as the airline passed on the soaring cost of oil to customers by increasing its fuel surcharge on all flights.
Environmentalists accused the airline of "hypocrisy", saying the strategy underlined the aviation sector's indifference to the fight against global warming...
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