Third-quarter corporate volume at International Airlines Group—which includes British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Level and Vueling—declined compared with a year prior, "but what we see now in Q4 is positive," CEO Luis Gallego said on a Friday mornings earnings call.
Gallego noted that year-to-date business traffic volume for the group was at about 70 percent of 2019 levels, while revenue for the segment is "close to 87 percent," he said. "The situation is improving, but slowly, and with a very different performance in the different airlines."
British Airways corporate volume is about 63 percent of 2019 levels, with revenue at 82 percent, Gallego said. For Iberia, those figures are "close to 80 percent in volume and above 100 percent in revenue." In Aer Lingus, it's close to "100 percent in volume and similar in revenue. So, we expect to finish 2025 with business revenue above what we had last year."
British Airways’ transatlantic service in the fourth quarter has grown on both sides of the Atlantic, Gallego said. "We think that this is going to help that recovery. … We are in a stable situation, and the improvements [are coming] slowly," he said. "The good news is we are delivering these strong results with this percentage of business traffic. What that means is that our model is working very well also with the premium leisure traffic."
IAG CFO Nicholas Cadbury also noted the ongoing strength of premium demand. About 45 percent of British Airways' seats are premium, "but a significant part of that is leisure," he said. "Corporate customers overall, they're still down year over year, but actually that's been filled very successfully by the demand for leisure, particularly at the front end of the plane. So, it still continues to be strong."
IAG Q3 Metrics
IAG third-quarter revenue was flat year over year at €9.3 billion. Passenger revenue decreased 0.1 percent for the period to nearly €8.3 billion. Operating profit increased 2 percent compared with a year prior to €2.1 billion. Capacity increased 2.4 percent year over year. IAG increased its North Atlantic capacity 2.9 percent during the quarter, and the segment represented nearly 32 percent of the company's total capacity for Q3.
For the third quarter, British Airways reported passenger revenue of £3.8 billion, an increase of 0.7 percent year over year on a capacity increase of 1.7 percent. Its operating result before exceptional items was £812 million, down from £830 million reported a year prior.
Iberia passenger revenue was €1.7 billion, an increase of 0.4 percent compared with Q3 2024, with capacity up 0.3 percent. Iberia's operating result was €510 million, compared with €454 million in Q3 2024.
Aer Lingus Q3 passenger revenue was €769 million, an increase of 5.9 percent year over year, with capacity up 5.9 percent for the period. Its operating result for Q3 was €170 million, up from €139 million reported a year prior.
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