Airline group IAG has reported strong revenue and profit growth for the first quarter of the year, and has lodged a significant fleet expansion order to boost its long haul services.
IAG owns Aer Lingus, British Airways and the Spanish airlines Iberia, Vueling and LEVEL.
Revenue was up 9.6%, year-on-year, to €7bn and post-tax profit amounted to €176m; a turnaround from a €4m first quarter loss last year.
Luis Gallego, IAG Chief Executive, said: “Our strong first quarter results reflect the performance of our businesses and the effectiveness of our strategy and transformation. We continue to deliver on our industry-leading financial targets.
“We remain focused on strengthening our broad portfolio of market-leading brands across our core markets of the North Atlantic, Latin America and intra-Europe.
“We continue to see resilient demand for air travel across all our markets, particularly in the premium cabins and despite the macroeconomic uncertainty. “Our commitment to financial strength and shareholder value is reflected in €530 million of share buybacks completed in 2025 so far, alongside a proposed final dividend of €288 million, which brings our total dividend for 2024 to €435 million.”
IAG has also continued its fleet refurbishment project by ordering 53 aircraft for its medium-term long-haul fleet requirements. The group has ordered 21 Airbus A330-900neo aircraft and 32 Boeing 787-10 aircraft for delivery from 2028 to 2033. The aircraft are mainly for replacement, with around one third for growth in IAG’s core markets.
