Aer Lingus and British Airways-owner IAG has forecast only a minimal pick-up in capacity to 25% for the April to June quarter. The airline group is remaining cautious despite hopes that European travel will start to recover from late May onwards. The rise to 25% of 2019's capacity compared to the 19.6% of capacity the airline group flew in the January to March quarter as the pandemic continued to restrict travel. That resulted in the group posting an operating loss before exceptional items of €1.14 billion for the first quarter to the end of March, slightly better than the €1.17 billion loss forecast by analysts.
IAG said that capacity at Aer Lingus continued to be driven by cargo needs, with flights operating regularly to New York, Chicago and Boston with very low passenger load factors. It also noted that the route between London Heathrow and Belfast performed well with sustained business traveller demand. IAG said it continues to take action to preserve cash and boost liquidity and during the first quarter it drew down on debt facilities agreed in 2020. This includes £2 billion for British Airways from UK Export Finance and €75m for Aer Lingus from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. Comments are closed.
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