British Airways-owner IAG, Europe's biggest airline Ryanair and rival easyJet said demand for travel was holding up, calming worries that pressure on household budgets could stall aviation's recovery from the pandemic. Australia's Qantas Airways also said Thursday it was seeing consumers willing to pay higher fares despite rising inflation and interest rates. Shares in IAG jumped as much as 10% after an unscheduled announcement on Thursday to report better than expected profit for its summer quarter and a confident outlook. Meanwhile, Ryanair said its bookings for the northern hemisphere autumn mid-term and Christmas holidays are ahead of pre-COVID levels and it sees average fares rising by more than expected until the end of March. In Europe, most airline stocks have plunged over the last six months, some by as much as 50%, over worries that rising household bills will dampen appetite for travel. But the airlines injected optimism back into the market on Thursday. IAG, which also owns the Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling airlines, said forward bookings remain at expected levels for this time of year "with no indication of weakness". Johan Lundgren, CE of easyJet which had earlier issued forecasts for its annual results, was more cautious, saying that there was "uncertainty out there", but the low-cost operator also said there was cause for optimism.<br/>
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London's Stansted Airport workers called off a potential strike that could have disrupted one of Britain's busiest airports after its union secured an improved pay offer, Unite said on Thursday. The lowest paid workers will receive an 11% wage increase over the year, while other grade workers will get a 10% rise, comprising an 8% increase from April and a 2% hike from this month. The offers include a 250-pound ($280.20) one-off payment. More than 1,000 Stansted workers including security officers, cleaners, firefighters and maintenance staff had voted for a strike action after rejecting a pay offer of 7.5%, plus the 250 pounds, in August. "We are pleased that colleagues recently voted to accept our revised pay offer, which avoids any potential disruption to passengers as a result of industrial action," a Stansted Airport spokesperson said. Workers in a range of sectors across Britain have taken or threatened industrial action in disputes over pay this summer at a time surging inflation and a deepening cost-of-living crisis batters the British economy.<br/>