The IAG group, parent company of Iberia and Vueling, has today called on the future Government to promote other anti-pollution measures rather than betting on the reduction of short-range flights, a commitment reflected in the coalition agreement sealed this week between PSOE and Sumar. The company’s CEO, Luis Gallego, has stated that the company is “realistic” and that to reduce the carbon footprint in the atmosphere there are other “measures that would have a faster impact.”
Gallego has cited three: firstly, the commitment to the Single European Sky, which, as IAG has been defending and its chief executive has insisted this Friday, “could save 10% of emissions.” Secondly, the airline group considers that betting on the use of SAF, the sustainable fuel, would also be an option that would help reduce emissions more urgently. Finally, IAG defends a push for intermodality. “It would be ideal,” defended its CEO, in a radial network around Madrid.
Fernando Candela, president of Iberia, has also cited the need for high speed to reach T-4 of the Madrid-Barajas airport to take another step in promoting intermodality that IAG defends.
Gallego did not want to comment on the possible impact of the coalition agreement on the Air Bridge between Barcelona and Madrid. The CEO of IAG has limited himself to pointing out that his airlines were the first “to commit to net 0 emissions and the use of 10% of SAF in 2030.” “No one doubts our commitment to sustainability and in that we are aligned with the Government and with Europe,” he added.
Sources from the aviation sector today questioned Sumar’s position that the agreement “should lead to the reduction of airlift flights that clearly have a train alternative.” They refer to the literal wording of the agreed text, which states that it affects “those routes in which there is a rail alternative with a duration of less than 2 and a half hours, except in cases of connection with hub airports that link with international routes”; and they emphasize, for example, that the high-speed journey between Sants and Atocha takes longer.
Regarding the future of Iberia’s handling service, after the result of the Aena contest in which the company lost important licenses, including that of El Prat, the president of the Spanish airline, Fernando Candela, pointed out that at this moment the company to wait for the resolution of the court to which it has complained and then make a decision. He did not want to mention the possibility of doing ‘autohandling’ and did remark that “in any of the scenarios, employment will always be maintained.”
The IAG group today announced its results for the first nine months of the year, a period in which it earned 2,151 million. This record figure implies multiplying by more than ten the profits obtained in the same period last year.
Compared to pre-pandemic figures, when air traffic plummeted, airlines Iberia and Vueling were the ones that led the recovery. The first obtained a profit of 821 million, practically doubling the result of the first nine months of 2019. Vueling, for its part, achieved an operating profit of 378 million, compared to 143 million in 2019. British Airways, which achieved a profit operational of 1,320 million, has not yet recovered the pre-pandemic data. Aer Lingus, finally, earned 236 million.
IAG informed the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) that the operating profit of IAG’s airlines amounted to 3,005 million until September, which means multiplying almost by four what was obtained in the same period of the previous year, which was 800 millions.
The income of the group led by Luis Gallego grew by 33.3% in the first nine months of the year, reaching 22,229 million. The costs, for their part, were 19,224 million euros, 20.8% more. During the first three quarters of the year, the IAG group managed to transport 87.5 million passengers, 26% more. Occupancy was 85.9%, 4.6 percentage points higher.
Luis Gallego, CEO of IAG, explained that the group expects full-year 2023 capacity to be around 96% of pre-pandemic levels. He also noted that customer bookings for the fourth quarter are going as expected, with around 75% of fourth quarter passenger revenue already booked.
Gallego also highlighted that IAG’s fuel costs will rise to 7.6 billion this year and stressed that the company is aware of the “macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties that could affect the remainder of this year.”
