British Airways owner IAG has returned to profitability for the first time since the start of the Covid pandemic, despite a “challenging” environment at Heathrow Airport.
The company said it has seen a significant increase in the number of flights and passengers handled.
Operating profit for the second quarter was £245m compared with a loss of £809m in the same period last year.
But the IAG also warned about the state of the industry.
Airlines and airports have faced significant disruption this year due to widespread labor shortages and industrial action.
“Our industry continues to face historic challenges due to unprecedented expansion of operations, particularly in the UK where operational challenges at Heathrow Airport have been acute,” said Luis Gallego, Chief Executive of IAG.
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The company, which also owns Iberia and Aer Lingus, said these problems at Heathrow had forced British Airways to limit its capacity to 69.1% of pre-pandemic levels between April and June.
“We will continue to work with the industry to address these issues as aviation weathers its biggest crisis yet,” said Mr. Gallego.
Between July and October, British Airways will increase its capacity to around 75%, IAG said.
It was the company’s Iberia and Vueling brands that performed the best over the last three months, buoyed by robust demand for domestic flights within Spain and routes to Latin America.
Last month both were at higher levels than 2019.
Mr Gallego said he hopes the airline will return to annual profitability this year as demand shows no signs of slowing down.
“In the second quarter, we returned to profitability for the first time since the pandemic began, following a strong recovery in demand across all our airlines,” he said. “This result supports our full-year operating profit guidance.”
“Our performance reflects a significant increase in capacity, utilization and revenue compared to the first quarter.”
‘Bizarre’
British Airways has been forced to cancel nearly 30,000 flights this summer as the company struggles with staff shortages and a rebound in demand for air travel following the lifting of Covid restrictions.
Add to this a shortage of ground handlers and airport ticket sellers, many of whom have been laid off during the pandemic and have not yet been replaced.
A row erupted this week between Ryanair and Heathrow Airport, with the airline saying the airports had not hired enough staff to cope with the upturn in travelers and saying they had “a job to do”.
But Heathrow hit back at the criticism, calling it “bizarre”.
“Airports do not offer ground handling, this is provided by the airlines themselves. So that’s like being accused of not having enough pilots,” said the airport’s chief executive, John Holland-Kaye.
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