BA flies high again with bumper profits despite bank holiday disruption

BRITISH Airways owner IAG continues to reap the rewards of the post-pandemic travel boom, as it today revealed record third-quarter profits despite a €50 million (£44 million) hit from the August bank holiday air traffic control chaos

- Daniel O’Boyle

The group, which also owns Aer Lingus and Spanish carrier Iberia, reported a profit of €1.23 billion in the three months from July to September as capacity reached almost 96 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

IAG said leisure demand was “very strong”, but business travel has been slower to recover.

BA alone made an operating profit of £617 million, as capacity grew by a quarter. That came despite the National Air Traffic Services shutdown on the August bank holiday.

IAG estimates that “higher disruption” across the business added around €50 million to its non-fuel costs. That was enough to ensure that those costs for the full year will be at the top end of IAG’s range.