IAG boss predicts all group airlines will return to profit this year
All of IAG’s subsidiary airlines will post profit this year, according to the group’s chief executive Luis Gallego.
“We foresee all the airlines of the group to make profits again this year,” the chief executive told journalists on Wednesday while refraining from elaborating on specific carriers.
IAG owns British Airways (BA), Iberia and Aer Lingus, among others.
Gallego succeeded Willie Walsh at the airline powerhouse’s helm in September 2020 – at the height of the Covid storm.
But, following two years plagued by significant pandemic-induced losses, the aviation group returned to black for the first time in July.
IAG posted a €293m (£245m) operating profit for the period between April and June – up from a €967m loss made during the same time last year.
Despite a “challenging operational environment at Heathrow,” the group’s passenger capacity between July and October was at 80 per cent of 2019 levels, going up to 85 per cent in the final quarter of the year.
IAG’s subsidiary BA made the headlines when it cut an additional 10,000 flights as Heathrow extended its daily passenger cap to the end of October.
The 100,000 daily departing passenger cap was initially introduced in mid-July to help the west London hub cope with travel disruption.