The British Airways owner, IAG, has reported a jump in profits in the last quarter because of strong performances on its North and South Atlantic routes.
Operating profits rose to €1.745bn (£1.52bn) in the July-September quarter, up from €1.216bn in the third quarter of 2022, as IAG became the latest airline group to benefit from the boom in leisure travel.
Luis Gallego, the group’s chief executive, said: “This quarter represents a record third-quarter performance for IAG. This is allowing us to invest in the business and reduce a significant amount of our debt.
“During the third quarter we saw sustained strong demand across all our routes, in particular the North and South Atlantic and in all leisure destinations around Europe. We continue to develop our hubs of Barcelona, Dublin, London and Madrid, supported by our fleet deliveries and future orders.”
Flight capacity, measured in “available seat kilometres“ rose by 18% year on year, to96% of levels reported in Q3 2019, before the Covid pandemic.
IAG attributed the capacity rise to a focus over the summer on European holiday destinations and further investment across the South and North Atlantic, supported by 20 aircraft deliveries this year.
The cost of fuel dropped 6% compared with a year ago, and revenue per passenger rose 2.2% and is up by almost a quarter since 2019.
However, Gallego said the Israel-Hamas war has had an impact on revenue for flights to Egypt’s capital, Cairo, and to the Jordanian capital, Amman.
British Airways has suspended flights to and from Israel since 11 October. It had operated a single daily flight to Tel Aviv before the suspension, according to the tracking website Flightradar24.
Gallego told reporters on Friday: “We are very mindful of the geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties and in particular now the events that are happening in the Middle East. Regarding this terrible situation we see some limited revenue impact on flights to Cairo and Amman, and for sure Israel, but it’s too early to conclude if we’re going to have a wider strain and implications.”
