BA owner IAG outlines plans to increase flights

The owner of BA has outlined cautious plans to return more of its planes to the skies after a difficult first half of the year in which losses spiralled to E2b. IAG is heavily exposed to UK and transatlantic travel, leaving its recovery lagging behind many of its main competitors in Europe. IAG plans to fly 45% of its normal flight schedule in Q3, up from 20% in the first six months of the year. Its plans are more cautious than short-haul rivals, such as easyJet and Ryanair, and reflect IAG’s reliance on parts of the industry that are taking longest to recover, such as the corporate and the long-haul market. While IAG’s two Spanish airlines will fly about 70% of their normal capacity, BA and Aer Lingus will operate just over 30%, underlining how the market in Europe is recovering more quickly than in Britain. IAG’s plans also contrast with fellow flag carrier Air France-KLM, which also reported results on Friday and said it planned to fly up to 70% of normal capacity this summer. Air France-KLM expects to return to profit in the next three months, and welcomed a recovery in passenger demand as the EU eased travel restrictions more quickly than the UK. Sean Doyle, BA’s CE, said BA’s recovery was running two months behind its European competitors. “There is demand out there,” he said. The airline was pivoting from corporate travel to try to attract high-paying leisure customers and had fewer premium seats following the retirement of old planes including its 747s, said Doyle. “We are adjusting our business model to anticipate what will be a lagging recovery in business,” he added. Luis Gallego, IAG’s CE, welcomed the UK’s decision to exempt fully vaccinated passengers from the US and EU from quarantine. “We see this as an important first step in fully reopening the transatlantic travel corridor,” he said. “We know that recovery will be uneven, but we’re ready to take advantage of a surge in air travel demand in line with increasing vaccination rates.”<br/>