The International Airlines Group (IAG) pointed to “softness” in the US market as it recorded a 2 per cent increase in profits to €2.05 billion for the third quarter.
The parent company of British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, LEVEL and Vueling on Friday (7 November) posted flat year-on-year revenue growth for Q3, with earnings of €9.33 billion.
IAG is the latest European airline group to signal a slowdown in transatlantic travel after Air France-KLM and Lufthansa also reported weakened demand in their respective third-quarter filings.
IAG’s passenger revenue per available seat kilometre (ASK) fell 2.4 per cent year on year for the three months to 30 September, with a 7.1 per cent drop in the North Atlantic region.
The group said “softness” in US point-of-sale demand was “expected”, while "strong" demand was recorded in the South Atlantic and Asia Pacific markets. Ticket prices in Europe, meanwhile, were down due to “a combination of high growth by British Airways and more competitive markets elsewhere,” IAG said.
Overall capacity for the third quarter, measured in available seat kilometres, increased 2.4 per cent year on year, while load factor declined 1.3 percentage points to 89.9 per cent.
Aer Lingus and Iberia both recorded year-on-year profit gains for the quarter, with operating results of €170 million and €500 million, respectively. British Airways posted £812 million in profits, £18 million less than Q3 2024, while Vueling reported profits of €272 million, down €20 million compared to the same period a year prior.
IAG confirmed its full-year outlook, stating the company is “on track to deliver another year of revenue and earnings growth” with revenue “positively booked” for the fourth quarter.
On Thursday (7 November) the group also announced a deal with Starlink to install high-speed wifi across its carriers' aircraft from 2026.