BA reported pre tax profits of £593m for the six months to September 30, compared to £471m for the same period in 2006.
The UK flag carrier said its operating profit for the period was £556m (£442m in 2006) while its operating margin was 12.5% compared with 9.6%.
Willie Walsh, BA's ceo, described the results as "good."
He added: "Profits are up some 26% and costs are down nearly 4%. Fuel costs remain a major challenge and our fuel bill for the year is expected to top £2bn for the first time.
"We see every possibility of achieving our 10% operating margin by March 2008."
Mr Walsh said that in the six months, BA had ordered 36 new long haul aircraft which would contribute "significantly" to the airline's target of cutting C02 emissions by 25% by 2025.
The move to Heathrow's new Terminal 5 was on track for next March with trials underway.
He said that "more good news for our customers" is that he expected restrictions on hand baggage to removed soon.
Mr Walsh said that revenue during the six months was down slightly by 0.8% and passenger revenue also fell slightly to £3.9bn.
The load factor dropped by 1% to 78.4% but yields rose by 0.5% due to a 2.5% increase in premium passengers. But non-premium traffic on North Atlantic and European routes was “soft.”
Mr Walsh said that BA's costs had dropped by £150m with unit costs down 2.6% and the fuel bill was down 3.5%. But he said that these figures had been helped by the weak US dollar.
* see BTE's recruitment site www.businesstraveljobs.com