• British Airways Tile
    British Airways
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    BA/BAW
    Airline Type:
    Full Service Carrier
    Hub(s):
    London Heathrow Airport, London Gatwick Airport
    Year Founded:
    1974
    Alliance:
    oneworld
    Airline Group:
    IAG
    CEO:
    Sean Doyle
    Country:
    United Kingdom
    Loyalty Program:
    British Airways Executive Club
    Region:
    Europe

International Airlines Group has reported its first quarterly profit since the pandemic's start. In the second quarter of 2022 (Q2 2022), the group reported an operating profit of €293 million ($285.2 million), compared to an operating loss of €967 million ($985mn) for the same quarter last year.

IAG comprises six airlines: Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, LEVEL, Vueling, and IAG Cargo. All the figures discussed here are for the consolidated group. While the Q2 return to profit is a sign of better times ahead, it was not enough for International Airlines Group (IAG) to cover Q1 losses. For the first half of 2022 (H1 2022), IAG made an operating loss of €483 million ($492.4mn), a dramatic improvement over the €2.03 billion ($2.06bn) loss in the same period last year. In Q2 2022, revenue reached €5.92 billion ($6.03bn); in H1 2022, it was €9.35 billion ($9.5bn).

IAG has 97% of its fleet back in service

Aer Lingus A320
The new aircraft will be shared across the IAG airline portfolio. Photo: Aer Lingus

At the end of June, IAG reported a fleet of 549 owned and leased operating aircraft, a mix of Airbus, Boeing, and Embraer types. It has 119 on order, holds options to purchase 146, and has 18 aircraft not in service. The largest type in the fleet is the Airbus A320ceo (198), followed by the A321neo (55), A321ceo (46), and the Boeing B777-200 (43). It also has 164 widebodies, including A330s, A350s, A380s, B777s, and B787s. The fleet is wrapped up by 22 Embraer E190s single-aisle aircraft.

IAG CEO Luis Gallego said that the return to profit came amid the strong recovery in demand across all the group's airlines. He believes this strong demand will continue for the rest of 2022 and lead to IAG reporting a full-year operating profit.

"Our performance reflected a significant increase in capacity, load factor and yield compared to the first quarter. Premium leisure remains strong while business travel continues a steady recovery in all airlines. Iberia and Vueling were the best performing carriers within the Group."

IAG expects 2022 to be a profitable year

Iberia Airbus A350
Photo: Iberia

IAG gives a limited view of how individual airlines performed, including only revenue and operating profit for British Airways (BA), Iberia, Vueling, and Aer Lingus. Of the total H1 2022 revenue of €9.35 billion ($9.5bn), BA earned 55% or €5.17 billion ($5.27bn), Iberia €2.1 billion ($2.14bn), Vueling €977 million ($996mn), Aer Lingus €657 million ($669mn), with €439 million ($448mn) from other group companies.

Geographically, 36% of group revenue came from the UK, 20% from Spain, 15% from the US, and 30% from the rest of the world. In terms of operating profit or loss, Iberia reported a profit of €4 million ($4.1mn), the other group companies made €129 million ($131.5mn), while BA lost €424 million ($432mn), Vueling €52 million ($53mn), and Aer Lingus €95 million ($96.8mn).

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Gallego said the operational challenges of Heathrow Airport have been acute, and the airline teams remain focused on enhancing operational resilience and improving customer experience. In response to the problems at London Heathrow Airport (LHR), BA's capacity was limited to 69.1% in Q2, but it plans to increase that to around 75% in the third quarter.

IAG plans to lift capacity to about 80% in Q3 and 85% in Q4, a reduction of about 5% due to the limitations at Heathrow. For 2022, IAG expects capacity at 78% of 2019 levels, with North America close to 100% by the end of the year. For H1 2022, IAG carried 39.97 million passengers at a load factor of 78%, with 25.5 million in Q2 at 82%.

Do you think BA can overcome the Heathrow limitations and return to full capacity this year? Let us know in the comments!