There was little to cheer watchers of the post-Brexit UK economy in results from BA owner IAG. Corporate bookings from Britain, which weakened significantly ahead of the vote, have yet to return to normal. CE Willie Walsh anticipates a recovery next year, but this is the corporate equivalent of mañana. IAG was first out of the blocks with a profit warning on the very morning the referendum result was announced. That paved the way for Friday’s Q2 numbers and — more importantly — outlook statement to look modestly reassuring. The crucial point was that management expects low double-digit growth in operating profits this year. That includes at least E80m in H2 disruption costs, mainly due to air-traffic control strikes that have already happened. It also reflects a slowing pace of expansion: Strip out the acquisition of Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus and IAG now expects to fly 4.5% more distance-adjusted seats this year than in 2015, down from 5.3% growth in February. Otherwise the company is keeping its calculations close to its chest. <br/>
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BA parent IAG Friday said it was further cutting back growth plans in the face of fare weakness following terrorist events and the UK’s Brexit vote. IAG is being hit by a combination of factors, including slack demand in the UK and the weakness of the British pound. Sterling’s weakness comes during the critical summer period when airlines make most of their profit. European airlines have been battered by a flurry of bad news. Terrorist attacks have spooked passengers, the Brexit vote has dented consumer confidence, and air-traffic control strikes have caused thousands of flights to be canceled. Capacity growth, a measure of seats for sale, would now expand only 4.5% compared with 5.5% originally planned, IAG CE Willie Walsh said. By year-end capacity may be curtailed even more, the company indicated. Cuts would be made across the network and all airlines, including Aer Lingus and Spanish carriers Iberia and Vueling, Walsh said. IAG this year already pared growth plans and is reviewing capacity and capital expenditure plans for next year. Full-year operating profit before exceptional items is now projected to grow at a low double-digit percentage, less than had been expected. IAG had already cut its full-year profit growth projection after the EU referendum. Walsh said the outlook was conservative. Walsh said “numerous external factors affected our airlines, including the impact of terrorism, uncertainty around the UK’s EU referendum and Spain’s political situation, and increased weakness in Latin American economies. This led to a softer-than-expected trading environment, especially in June.” Operating profit before exceptional items was E555m compared with E530m a year earlier. <br/>
Qatar Airways said Sunday that it had signed an international agreement with Malaysian-based carrier Malindo Air. The agreement covers Malindo Air’s 40 cities in 12 Asian countries and over 100 Qatar Airways destinations, the Doha-based airline said on its website. Qatar Airways flies three times a day to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. Malindo Air launched in 2013 as a joint venture between Malaysia’s National Aerospace and Defence Industries and Indones’a Lion Air. The agreement follows a code-share deal signed earlier this year between Emirates and Malaysian Airlines.<br/>
An aircraft wing part found in Tanzania is "highly likely" to be part of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, an Australian government minister said on Friday, in what would be the second confirmed piece of the jetliner. Flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing. Investigators believe someone may have deliberately switched off the plane's transponder before diverting it thousands of miles off course over the Indian Ocean. The wing part found in Tanzania is being examined in Australia. "It is highly likely that the latest piece of debris being analysed is from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370," Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester said in a statement. "The experts will continue to analyse this piece to assess what information can be determined from it." Investigators have confirmed a piece of plane debris found on the French island of Reunion in July 2015 as being part of MH370. They have said several other pieces of debris found in Mozambique, South Africa and Rodrigues Island, a territory of Mauritius, are likely to be parts of the missing plane.<br/>