BA owner IAG returns to profit for first time since start of Covid pandemic

theguardian.com:

The owner of British Airways, International Airlines Group, has returned to profit for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

IAG said it had made an operating profit of €293m (£245m) between April and June, compared with a €967m loss during the same period last year.

The group said the “challenging operational environment at Heathrow” had meant BA’s capacity had been limited to 69.1% of pre-pandemic levels between April and June, up from 57.4% in the previous quarter.

The airline, which has cancelled tens of thousands of flights this summer, plans to increase its capacity to about 75% between July and October.

IAG’s plans for overall passenger capacity are about 80% between July and October, and 85% for the final quarter of the year.

That is a reduction of 5% for the second half of 2022 compared with previous guidance, which the group said is “mainly due to the challenges at Heathrow”.

The IAG chief executive, Luis Gallego, said: “In the second quarter we returned to profit for the first time since the start of the pandemic following a strong recovery in demand across all our airlines.

“This result supports our outlook for a full-year operating profit. Our performance reflected a significant increase in capacity, load factor and yield compared to the first quarter.

“Premium leisure remains strong while business travel continues a steady recovery in all airlines.”