Shares in British Airways have lost nearly a quarter of their value in the past two weeks.

On Wednesday, the airline was the biggest faller in the FTSE 100 index of blue-chip shares, recording a loss for the ninth day in a row.

I always expected BA to be hit the hardest of the network carriers Andrew Lobbenberg, ABN Amro.

While the FTSE 100 has recorded a drop of 11% since 16 January, BA shares have fallen 24% to 105p over the same period.

The prospect of war with Iraq is the main reason for the slump because a conflict would put people off international travel and hit the airline's profits.

A war would also lift the price of aviation fuel, adding to the pressure on BA.

Hardest hit

But shares in other European airlines, such as Lufthansa and Air France have fared better, probably because they do not rely so heavily on trans-Atlantic routes and US passengers.

"I always expected BA to be hit the hardest of the network carriers, given its exposure to the North Atlantic," said analyst Andrew Lobbenberg of ABN Amro.

"BA gets a higher proportion of its profits from the North Atlantic than others in the sector and the North Atlantic is probably the area which will be the second worst hit if we go to war, after the Middle East."

BA's shares have fallen nearly 40% since they peaked at 170.5p in December.