British Airways said on Friday that some risk now surrounds its full-year revenue forecasts as demand for long-haul premium traffic had worsened amid the global economic downturn.

The carrier said in a statement that long-haul premium traffic -- which includes the key London-New York corporate routes -- had softened since the summer and that forward bookings had been hit by the downturn.

"Forward bookings are being affected by the increased anxiety in financial markets and by the uncertain economic outlook," the company said in a statement.

"Revenue forecasts for the year carry some risk, although current good yields and the stronger dollar are broadly offsetting the volume impact," it added.

BA said its target for the year to March 2009 was still to break even at the operating level, but its shares -- already down nearly 7 percent ahead of the statement -- fell further.

The group said passenger traffic for September fell 4.8 percent year-on-year, including an 8.6 percent fall in premium flyers.

That delivered a load factor down 4.3 percentage points at 74 percent.