Luis Gallego, IAG chief executive, said there was a "significant recovery under way", adding teams across the group’s airlines were working hard to "capture every opportunity" and "capitalise on surges in bookings" when travel restrictions are lifted.
Gallego’s comments came as IAG posted a significantly reduced third quarter operating loss (three months to 30 September) of €452 million (£388 million), down from €1.9 billion (£1.63 billion) during the same period last year.
IAG’s operating loss for the nine months to 30 September, meanwhile, now runs to just shy of €2.5 billion (£2.15 billion), which compares to an operating loss of nearly €6 billion (£5.15 billion) over the same period in 2020 when the pandemic bit – an improvement of more than half.
The group’s overall loss after tax and exceptional items for the nine months to 30 September was €2.6 billion (£2.23 billion), up from around €5.5 billion (£4.72 billion). The IAG stable includes BA, Aer Lingus, Iberia, Vueling and Level.
"There’s a significant recovery under way and our teams across the group are working hard to capture every opportunity," said Gallego. "We continue to capitalise on surges in bookings when travel restrictions are lifted.
"All our airlines have shown improvements with the group’s operating loss more than halved compared to previous quarters. In Q3, our operating cash flow was positive for the first time since the start of the pandemic and our liquidity is higher than ever, reaching €12.1 billion (£10.4 billion) on a pro forma basis at the end of October.
"The full reopening of the transatlantic travel corridor from Monday (8 November) is a pivotal moment for our industry. British Airways is serving more US destinations than any transatlantic carrier and we’re delighted that we can get our customers flying again."
Long-haul rebound
He added long-haul traffic was proving a "significant driver of revenue", recovering more quickly than short-haul heading into the winter. "Premium leisure is performing strongly at both Iberia and British Airways, and there are early signs of a recovery in business travel," Gallego added.
IAG passenger capacity in Q3 ran to 43.4% of 2019 levels, up from 21.9% in Q2. The group expects to fly around 60% of 2019 capacity in Q4.
Looking ahead, IAG said it expected its full 2021 operating loss before exceptional items to come in at around €3 billion (£2.57 billion), and total capacity for the full year to amount to 37% of the capacity it operated in 2019.
