IAG, British Airways parent company, records heavy loss for first quarter of 2022
British Airways’ parent company, IAG, has recorded a heavy loss for the first three months of the year as the Omicron Covid variant cut passenger numbers. Pre-tax losses for International Airlines Group were £916 million, although this was lower than the £1.2 billion loss in the same period in 2021. IAG says there is more business flying, a higher load factor, and more premium leisure passengers. It says it expects to return to profitability from April for the summer, and for 2022 as a whole. Flight capacity in the first 3 months of the year was 65% of 2019 levels, up from 58% between October and December. IAG is hoping this will rise to 80% between April and June, and 85% during July, August and September. However, there have been a lot of cancelled flights, due to shortage of ground staff, and IAG is reducing the number of short haul (ie. not quite such high carbon …) flights.
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British Airways parent company records heavy loss
Neil Lancefield, PA Transport Correspondent
Fri, 6 May 2022
British Airways’ parent company has recorded a heavy loss for the first three months of the year as the Omicron variant of coronavirus reduced passenger numbers.
Pre-tax losses for International Airlines Group (IAG) hit £916 million, although this was an improvement of the £1.2 billion loss in the same period a year ago.
The company said it saw an improvement in business travel during the period, and the overall proportion of seats filled on flights was better than a year ago at the height of global lockdowns.
IAG chief executive Luis Gallego said the company’s losses in the first three months of the year reflect “normal seasonality, the impact of Omicron and costs associated with ramping up operations”.
Demand is “recovering strongly” and the firm expects to return to profitability during the period from April to June onwards and in 2022 as a whole, he said.
Premium leisure travel is the “strongest performing segment”, Mr Gallego said, while business travel is at its highest level since the start of the pandemic.
Flight capacity in the first three months of the year was 65% of 2019 levels, up from 58% between October and December.
This is expected to rise to 80% between April and June, and reach 85% during the following three months.
Capacity on routes across the North Atlantic will be “close to fully restored” between July and September, Mr Gallego said.
BA has cancelled thousands of flights in recent weeks due to staff shortages and sickness.
Mr Gallego added: “Globally the travel industry is facing challenges as a result of the biggest scaling up in operations in history, and British Airways is no exception.
“The welcome removal of UK’s stringent travel restrictions, combined with strong pent-up demand, have contributed to a steep ramp up in capacity.”
British Airways has reduced short-haul flights to give “confidence to the customer and stability to the programme,” he said.
The rate of staff absences at BA in previous months has been around 7%, compared with 4-5% normally.
Mr Gallego said the airline has enough pilots but is suffering a “big problem” recruiting people in ground handling roles.
An average of 103 days to check the references of new recruits in recent months so they could start work “didn’t help”, he added.
“That’s something around 20% higher than the numbers we had before.”
He attributed the delay to many people having gaps or changes in their employment history caused by the virus crisis.
The chief executive also accused Heathrow of underestimating passenger numbers, which means there is a “a lack of resources” at the airport.
This makes it “impossible to operate the capacity that we have in our minds”, he claimed.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/british-airways-parent-company-records-062925839.html
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See earlier:
British Airways owner IAG hit made a record loss of – €7.4bn in 2020 (cf. +€2.6bn profit in 2019)
International Airlines Group, owner of BA, has reported a record annual operating loss of €7.4bn (£6.4 billion) for 2020. Its passenger capacity last year was only a third of 2019 and in the first quarter of this year is running at only a fifth of pre-Covid levels. The loss included exceptional items relating to fuel and currency hedges, early fleet retirement and restructuring costs. The loss compares with a €2.6bn profit in 2019. IAG is trying to cut its cost base and increase the proportion of variable costs to better match market demand. IAG’s passenger revenues fell 75% from €22.4bn to €5.5bn last year but its cargo business had “helped to make long-haul passenger flights viable” during the pandemic. Cargo revenues increased by almost €200m to €1.3bn and IAG also operated more than 4,000 cargo-only flights in 2020. It is not providing guidance on its finances for 2021. Airlines do seem to understand, at last, that for acceptable Covid safety of air travel, people need to be vaccinated or have proper proof they are not able to spread the virus. IAG spent €4.1bn in cash last year – almost €80m a week (£11.4 million per day). IAG’s market value has halved to £9.6bn since the start of the pandemic. When Covid is less of a threat, low-cost carriers may emerge in stronger shape than airlines like BA.
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