British Airways (BA) has announced record annual revenues of £8.5bn and increased spending on IT development by seven per cent.

While the airline saw its profits slump £100m, it has been investing in the IT infrastructure that will run Heathrow Terminal 5, which opens next year.

'Investment in Terminal 5 is one of our primary projects and will be ongoing until it is up and running in March next year,' a BA spokesman said. 'But we will also continue to invest in ba.com to ensure we stay ahead of our competition.'

The increase in spending has been modest, he says, but productivity has increased significantly.

'The IT department has targets to improve efficiencies and that has been successful,' he said. 'We have rolled out systems that deliver more for less.'

In the last year BA has overhauled its engineering systems, invested in the development of its web site and the introduction of Google search engine technology.

And last week, it announced that trials of mobile ticketing, where an electronic barcode is transmitted to mobile phones for check-in and boading, could begin by the end of the year.

BA’s chief information officer Paul Coby has previously said IT is at the heart of the business and responsible for improved results at the airline.