LONDON (AP) — British Airways PLC unveiled record full year profits on Friday, but the disastrous opening of its flagship Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport prompted the carrier's chief executive to forgo his bonus.

BA also warned of turbulence in the current year because of costs related to the new terminal, where the transfer of its flight programme is still well behind schedule, and the soaring price of fuel.

The airline more than doubled net profit to £680 million ($1.3 billion) in the year to March 31, from £290 million in the previous year, despite its operating troubles in recent months.

Revenue rose 3.1 percent to £8.75 billion ($17 billion), thanks to BA's successful drive to target corporate travellers on routes between the US and London.

Pretax profits were at a record £883 million ($1.7 billion), up 45 percent on the previous year.

The results gave the airline its widest ever operating margin of 10 percent, leading it to pay out its first dividend to shareholders since the September 11 terrorist attacks and triggering a multi-million pound bonus pool for its staff.

The results pushed BA shares up four percent to 233 pence ($4.56) on the London Stock Exchange.

"This is an outstanding financial result for the company, despite rising fuel prices and significant economic slowdown in the last six months," said chief executive Willie Walsh, who attempted to defuse some of the investor and public ire over the Terminal 5 fiasco by declining his own bonus.

Walsh would have been entitled to a bonus of up to £700,000 ($1.36 million) based on various performance targets.

"I felt in the context of the disappointing opening associated with Terminal 5 that it would be inappropriate for me to take a bonus, despite the excellent financial performance of the company," said Walsh, who had previously made a series of public apologies but resisted calls for him to quit his post.

Two other senior BA executives lost their jobs after the opening of the terminal in March was marred by glitches in the facility's multi-billion pound automated baggage system and staffing problems that caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the delay of thousands of bags.

The problems forced BA to drop a plan to shift all its flights operating out of other terminals at the airport to Terminal 5 in just a couple of days at the end of April. It will now begin transferring long-haul flights to the terminal in June, with services to and from New York's JFK Airport among the first to make the switch.

BA said the delays would impact on costs and revenue over the current quarter, which it pegs as "particularly difficult" because of high crude oil prices, and over the full year. The airline noted that crude prices have risen from $58 a barrel in the first quarter last year to $115 a barrel this year.

It said that full year revenues would rise by around four percent, which is at the lower end of its previously announced guidance.

"The full year will also be challenging, against an uncertain economic outlook," the airline said in a statement. "As a result, we have reduced capital expenditure and are reviewing our capacity, costs and network in the context of the economic pressures and high fuel prices."

Walsh said talks continued with US carriers American Airlines and Continental Airlines on possible "opportunities for cooperation".