International Airlines Group passenger revenue
declined 9.2 percent year over year to €4.6 billion in the fourth quarter. The group—which
includes British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus—reported a challenging revenue
environment for the full year, including economic weakness in Latin America,
the weakening of the British pound by the Brexit referendum and heavy fare
competition amid low fuel prices. Currency changes caused a €460 million hit
for the year. Traffic increased 3.4 percent year over year in the fourth quarter,
lower than the 4 percent capacity growth, pushing load factor down 0.5
percentage points to 80.1 percent. International Airlines Group reported an
operating profit of €2.5 billion for the full year 2016, up 8.6 percent year
over year.