British Airways’ owner IAG is expecting to make higher profits this year than previously forecast after enjoying strong sales over the summer.
IAG’s operating profit rose to €900 million for the three months between July and September, which was an increase of €210 million or 30.4% on the same period last year, as total revenue rose 8.5% year-on-year to €5.87 billion.
The company was boosted by a 27% increase in British Airways’ operating profit which rose to €607 million for the quarter compared to a profit of €477 million during the same period in 2013.
As a result, IAG is forecasting an operating profit of between €550 million to €600 million for the whole of 2014. Previously the company was expecting a profit of around €500 million for the year. IAG made an operating profit of €770 million last year.
For the first nine months of this year, IAG made an operating profit of €1.13 billion excluding “exceptional” or one-off costs (up from €657 million in 2013).
Revenue for the period from January to September was up 7.4% to €15.16 billion as capacity was increased by 10.5% and traffic rose by 9.5%.
IAG chief executive Willie Walsh said: “We continued to grow capacity efficiently and both our non-fuel and fuel unit cost performances were strong with the latter boosted by the introduction of new, more efficient aircraft into our fleet.”
BA’s sister airline Iberia saw its operating profit rise to €162 million in the third quarter compared to a profit of €74 million in 2013. No-frills carrier Vueling, also part of IAG, made an operating profit of €140 million compared to €130 million last year.