British Airways owner IAG has announced plans to slow capacity growth to 3.4% over the next three years, down from a previous target of 6% per annum for the years 2019 through 2023.
The group on Friday (8 November) set out its medium-term (2020-2022) strategy, which will see IAG aim to maintain an operating profit margin of 12% to 15%. Capital expenditure though is expected to grow from €2.6 billion a year to €4.7 billion a year.
It comes as the group reported October carryings across its five airline brands up 3.4% year-on-year from 10.03 million to 10.36 million.
BA passengers numbers increased 1.1% during October to 4.17 million, while this year to date, BA has now carried more than 40 million passengers, up 1.2% on the same 10-month period last year.
Iberia’s October traffic came in up 7.5% on last year from 1.85 million to 1.99 million, while Vueling’s increased 3.9% from 2.90 million to 3.01 million.
Aer Lingus, meanwhile, reported more modest growth of 1.1% to 1.02 million passengers.
Level’s growth continued apace in October, up 18.4% from 147,000 passengers to 174,000, and is up 132.6% when compared to the same 10-month period last year.
From January 2020, IAG will report its traffic figures quarterly rather than monthly.