IAG, which also owns Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling, said it was seeing a “strong recovery” in sales for Easter and the summer, as the company announced its financial results for 2021.
Luis Gallego, IAG’s chief executive, said: “We are confident that a strong recovery is under way. Our teams across the group are taking every opportunity to develop our business while capitalising on the surge in bookings when travel restrictions are lifted.
“We expect a robust summer with IAG returning to around 85% of its 2019 capacity for the full year.
“As we ramp up operations our customers remain at the heart of everything we do. This means investment in passenger experience and operational resilience to provide the best service.”
IAG significantly reduced its operating loss to €2.8 billion in 2021, compared with a loss of €7.45 billion in 2020, as revenue rose by 5.9% to €5.8 billion year-on-year.
The company added that bookings for long-haul traffic had picked up quickly in October and November, reaching 80% of 2019 levels, as the US reopened to international visitors. But this momentum was briefly halted by the rapid spread of Omicron in key markets, such as the UK.
“Demand slowed down for very near-term trips following the emergence of Omicron in late November,” added Gallego. “However, bookings have remained strong for Easter and summer 2022 having picked up in the new year.”
The company said that leisure sales for its premium cabins had “performed strongly” for British Airways and Iberia, while business travel had “started to recover”, particularly on the lucrative transatlantic routes.
IAG said it still expected to make a loss in the first three months of 2022 due to “normal seasonality”. The group is forecasting a return to profitability from the second quarter, although this assumes there are no more major Covid “setbacks” or “material impact from recent geopolitical developments”.
Capacity across IAG’s five carriers, which also include Level, rose throughout 2021 and reached 58.3% of 2019 levels in the final quarter of the year.
This recovery was led by Spanish airlines Iberia and Vueling which were both over 70% of 2019 capacity by late 2021 – well ahead of BA which was at 52.7% of 2019 capacity in the fourth quarter, and Aer Lingus at just 44.3%.
IAG said that BA’s capacity last year “reflected demand from UK holidaymakers avoiding overseas destinations, which were subject to quarantine restrictions and expensive testing requirements”.
The company added: “British Airways had a good performance throughout the summer on the routes operated to destinations included on the UK government’s ‘travel corridor’ green and amber list countries, once self-isolation requirements for double-vaccinated passengers were removed.”
