LONDON – IAG, the owner of British Airways and other European airlines, today posted a net loss of €1.1 billion (RM5.4 billion) in the first quarter (Q1) of this year, as the coronavirus pandemic grounded planes.
It was a reduction, however, on the company’s net loss of €1.68 billion in the first three months of last year, as Covid-19 took off, IAG said in an earnings statement.
It added that group revenue collapsed 79% to €968 million in Q1 of this year.
Passenger numbers dived 87% compared with a year earlier at the company that also owns Spanish airline Iberia and Ireland’s Aer Lingus.
“We’re doing everything in our power to emerge in a stronger competitive position,” IAG chief executive Luis Gallego said in the statement.
The earnings update comes a day after rival Air France-KLM posted a net loss totalling €1.5 billion for Q1.
International travel
IAG said it will not be providing 2021 profit guidance “given the uncertainty over the timing of the lifting of government travel restrictions and the continued impact and duration of Covid-19”.
Britain’s government is today set to reveal which foreign destinations people can fly to without quarantining.
The United Kingdom has set a date of May 17 to relaunch international travel using a “traffic-light” system.
Travel destinations will be ranked green, amber or red according to virus risk, according to the government led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
International travel to and from the UK is banned, except for a handful of permitted reasons. This has created massive pent-up demand for summer holidays abroad.
“We’re absolutely confident that a safe restart to travel can happen as shown by the scientific data,” Gallego added in the earnings statement.
“We’re ready to fly, but government action is needed.”
He called for “travel corridors without restrictions between countries with successful vaccination roll-outs and effective testing, such as the UK and the United States”.
He added that there needs to be affordable and simple testing, well-staffed borders and digital passes for testing and vaccination documentation.
“These measures will enable a safe reopening of our skies.
“There’s a high level of pent-up demand, and aviation will play a critical role in reconnecting people and getting economies back up and running again.”
Owing to Covid-19 fallout, IAG has axed around 10,000 jobs at British Airways – or one quarter of the carrier’s workforce – and cut 500 positions at Aer Lingus.
IAG, meanwhile, plunged into a record annual net loss of €6.9 billion last year. – AFP, May 7, 2021
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