European airlines see travel withstanding consumer squeeze for now

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/>