BA is making £50 per second profit in 2023

British Airways made almost £50 per second in profit in the first nine months of 2023. But the airline's parent company, IAG, warned of a wide range of risks in the months and years ahead. BA made £1.15bn in profit in the first nine months of 2023, £215m short of the same spell in 2019.

- SIMON CALDER

IAG said the summer months, from July to September, had been particularly successful: “British Airways total revenue grew by 20 per cent in the quarter, on capacity growth of 25 per cent, in particular through strong leisure demand.”

BA’s capacity is still down 10 per cent compared with 2019. IAG said: “Restoration of capacity in British Airways has been lower than in the other operating companies, reflecting the retirement of British Airways’ Boeing 747-400 fleet in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the slower restoration of capacity in the Asia Pacific region.”