British Airways owner IAG is confident travel will recover from July onwards after forecasting only a minimal improvement in its capacity to 25 % for the April to June quarter.
IAG, which also owns Iberia and Vueling in Spain and Aer Lingus in Ireland, declined to forecast how much it would fly from July however stated the recovery would be properly underway by then after more than a yr of pandemic restrictions.
“We consider within the second half that we’re going to be flying and we’re ready for that,” IAG Chief Executive Luis Gallego informed reporters on Friday after the company posted a loss of €1.14 billion ($1.4 billion) within the first quarter.
Earlier than July, however, Gallego stated government action was needed on some issues, such as opening travel corridors between nations with high vaccination rates, including the UK and the US.
The rise to 25 % of pre-pandemic capacity puts IAG’s plans behind those of rival airlines and is only a marginal increase from the 19.6 % it flew within the first three months of 2021.
Britain, which together with Spain is one of IAG’s main markets, is set to publish later on Friday its “green list” of low-risk places where individuals can travel without needing to quarantine on their return.
Gallego stated IAG was expecting only a small list of nations initially with more being added from June onwards.
“Part of the reason we’re not giving guidance (for third-quarter capacity) is simply that we don’t know what’s on the green checklist yet,” Chief Financial Officer Steve Gunning stated.
Air France-KLM expects to operate 50 % of its pre-pandemic flight capacity within the second quarter, picking up to 55 % to 65 % in July-September. Lufthansa expects to fly at about 40 % of its pre-pandemic capacity for 2021 as a whole.
IAG’s first-quarter operating loss before exceptional items of €1.14 billion was slightly better than the €1.17 billion loss forecast by analysts.
Shares within the company, which have risen 30 % since the beginning of the yr, traded up 0.7 %.
“The company delivered a solid set of results and is pointing to the beginning of the recovery into the summer,” Goodbody analyst Mark Simpson stated.
Given the ongoing uncertainty over COVID-19, IAG stated it could not provide a profit outlook for 2021.
