Proactive Investors – British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (LON:) saw a major improvement in its financial performance for the first quarter of 2024, with net losses after tax decreasing to €4 million from €87 million in the first quarter of 2023.
On the top line, total revenues increased 9.2% year on year to €6.43 billion and operating profit rose to €68 million from €9 million.
Passenger capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASK), grew by 7%, while fuel costs per ASK reduced by 4.9%, reflecting lower average fuel prices.
The results build for a solid year of recovery for IAG, justifying numerous upgrades, including one from JPMorgan (NYSE:) in March.
Luis Gallego, chief executive of IAG, stated: “Our transformation initiatives and increased demand, including over the Easter holidays, have delivered another very good set of results with improvements to both revenue and operating profit.
“Our group benefits from the strength of our core markets – North Atlantic, South Atlantic and intra-Europe – and the performance of our brands.
“Investment across the group in transformation is delivering encouraging improvements in punctuality and customer experience at our airlines. IAG Loyalty continues to perform very well.”
Galileo said the group is “well-positioned for the summer”.