BA expressed confidence about 2018 Friday and pledged more cash for shareholders but a fall in fourth-quarter profit sent its shares lower. The airline group said it expects to add seats this year to take advantage of strong travel demand while keeping costs under control. But the last three months of the year were worse than expected, and plans to expand capacity by 6.7% came amid worries that airlines are growing too quickly and will struggle with costs as rising oil prices boost their jet fuel bills. IAG shares were down 4.5% at 595 pence at 0955 GMT, which analysts at Goodbody attributed to IAG’s worse-than-expected Q4. Its quarterly operating profit fell 6%, a decline which IAG put down to changes in employee bonus provisions. Its non-fuel unit costs rose 0.5%. IAG said it expected to increase profit and passenger unit revenue this year while reducing costs. “The important thing for us, which I think sets us apart from a lot of our competitors, is we’re looking at (capacity) growth of 6.7% but with unit revenues improving off the back of that growth,” CEO Willie Walsh said. But some analysts were not convinced. “IAG’s outlook for a positive unit revenue environment in 2018 runs counter to our own analysis of the current sector outlook,” Bernstein analyst Daniel Roeska said.<br/>
oneworld
BA owner IAG is in talks about acquiring new aircraft for its Level low-cost long-haul brand, as it drives expansion of the airline, which was set up last year. Level will have five Airbus A330 aircraft this year, which IAG CEO Willie Walsh said offered a more efficient way to get the operation off the ground than the newer 787 Dreamliner from Boeing. He said the plan was for Level to grow to 15 aircraft in the short-term, by about 2022, with the possibility to grow further. “We see an opportunity with Airbus and with Boeing. The 787 more and more we see as a future opportunity in the development of Level,” Walsh told analysts on an annual results call.<br/>