IAG shrugs off fuel rise

British Airways’ parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) was in dominant form last week with an order for up to 42 Boeing B777X (see this issue) and improved full-year financial results to 31 December 2018.

On the financial side, IAG said it had weathered a significant fuel price increase and other challenges to report an operating profit of €3.230bn, a 9.5% rise over 2017, with adjusted earnings per share growing by 15.1%.

CEO Willie Walsh said: This was a very good performance despite three significant challenges: fuel prices increasing 30%, considerable Air Traffic Control disruption and an adverse foreign exchange impact of €129m."

Of IAG’s four constituent airlines, British Airways’ operating profit was £1.9bn, up £203m over 2017 on a capacity increase of 2.5%, while Iberia’s operating profit was €437m, an increase of €61m.

Aer Lingus contributed an operating profit of €305m, a record performance and an improvement of €37m over the previous last year. Capacity increased by 10% from additional flying to new routes such as Philadelphia and Seattle.

Vueling’s operating profit was €200m, an increase of €12m despite facing significant operational disruption from ATC regulations and strikes.

On trading outlook, Walsh said at current fuel prices and exchange rates, IAG expected a 2019 operating profit “in line” with the 2018 figures.

www.iairgroup.com   www.britishairways.com

www.aerlingus.com   www.iberia.com   www.vueling.com

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