British Airways has signed a multimillion pound three-year deal with NIIT Technologies for the support and testing of applications across BA's business.

BA hopes that the deal will help it reduce costs at a time when high fuel prices are putting a heavy squeeze on profits.

Mike Doyle, IT application support manager at BA, said: "We are extremely pleased to continue our long-term partnership with NIIT Technologies.

"They have proven to be a flexible, reliable partner evolving with our business and the technology trends within the airline industry."

NIIT has developed software for BA for over 10 years for all parts of the business, and has a dedicated software development facility for BA in India.