Aer Lingus owner IAG projects strong summer after solid first quarter
Full Loss Meanwhile, The Of Of 2023 Operating Period Said A Year The Aer With Profit Lingus Following €225m The January 'typically For To March Quarterly Year, Was Weakest' Latest
Aer Lingus owner IAG reported a surge in first quarter earnings helped by rising demand over the Easter holiday and said it was seeing strong summer bookings.
Chief executive Luis Gallego said the group, which also owns Iberia, British Airways and Vueling airlines, had already secured more than 80% of projected bookings for the second quarter and over 40% for the third quarter.
IAG's exposure to the Middle East was very small so it hadn't seen a big impact from the conflict there, he said.
Shares in IAG rose 1.4% in early trading after the group said operating profit totalled €68m in the first three months. That topped analysts' forecasts of €49m, according to a company-compiled consensus, and compared with a profit of just €9m in the same quarter of last year.
"Our transformation initiatives and increased demand, including over the Easter holidays, have delivered another very good set of results with improvement to both revenue and operating profit," Mr MGallego said in a statement.
Meanwhile, its Aer Lingus operations posted an operating loss of €82m in the first three months of 2024, marginally worse than the €81m loss posted in the same period last year.
The airline said January to March was "typically the weakest" period of the year, with the latest quarterly loss following a full-year operating profit of €225m for 2023.
While revenue increased and overall capacity was up by 4% compared to the first quarter of 2023, Aer Lingus said the operating loss was due to higher costs.
It said its increased capacity reflected an early Easter and more premium leisure traffic, with capacity on North American routes increasing by 2% while Europe rose by 7%.
Aer Lingus said it is operating its "biggest-ever" North American network this summer including the commencement of new services from Dublin to Minneapolis St. Paul and Denver and an expanded European leisure network.
The group said it will also benefit from an agreement between IAG and a California-based company Twelve, to secure the production of e-SAF for airlines in the group, a "key element" in achieving sustainability objectives.
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In a trading update, chief executive Lynne Embleton said the airline is “committed to our growth strategy for Aer Lingus that will benefit the company, our employees, our customers, and the economy.
"However, it is critical that we remain focused on managing our cost base and that economic growth is not constrained by the passenger cap issue at Dublin Airport."
"Dublin Airport is a critical piece of strategic national infrastructure, and the passenger cap issue needs to be urgently resolved — this requires both leadership from the Government and action by the parties involved.”