Airport operator BAA said on Tuesday it planned to cut 700 jobs under a cost-saving program and posted higher first-half earnings despite rising utility bills and slowing passenger growth.

BAA, which owns London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, reported a 5.2 percent rise in pretax profits as expected after higher retail revenues helped offset the impact of the July 7 bombings in London and a strike at Heathrow.

BAA said pretax profit for the six months to end-September was GBP