Due to the high demand for holiday travel, the airline firm said it expects to fly about the same number of people this year as it did prior to the coronavirus outbreak. This has led to an improvement in the owner of British Airways' full-year profit estimates.
International Airlines Group (IAG) reported a first-quarter profit for the first time since 2019, before the travel industry was plunged into chaos by Covid lockdowns. It made an operating profit of £7.9m in the first three months of the year.
Since the end of most global travel restrictions airlines have been racing to restart routes, with demand for holidays in particular soaring and business travel also recovering, albeit more slowly.
British Airways was benefiting from strong demand for leisure travel on long- and short-haul routes, the group said.
IAG, which also owns the Spanish flag carrier Iberia and the low-cost carrier Vueling, predicted that capacity will be roughly 97% of what it was in 2019. Its operating profit for the entire year will therefore likely surpass the €2.3 billion it had initially projected.
The group returned to full-year profit in 2022 after racking up losses of almost €11bn through 2020 and 2021