British Airways passenger numbers up 1pc as it scales back capacity forecast

BRITISH AIRWAYS owner International Consolidated Airlines Group has scaled back its forecasts for airline capacity over the next three years as it posted a rise in passenger numbers last month.

The airline giant reduced its forecasts for expected growth in available seats per kilometre to 3.4 per cent for the years from 2019 to 2023, from its previous prediction of 6 per cent.

IAG also reduced its forecasts for growth in earnings per share to 10 per cent from 12 per cent due to lower planned capacity growth.

However, it held firm on longterm profit margin forecasts as it said it still expects to deliver an operating profit margin of between 12 and 15 per cent for the next three years.

It made the announcement as it also revealed a 3.4 per cent jump in passenger numbers for

October against the same period last year.

IAG saw passenger numbers rise to 10.3 million in October, from 10 million in the same month for 2018 on the back of growth across its core brands.

This represented a slowdown compared to the company’s total growth over the year to date, which has seen passenger numbers increase by 4.7 per cent over the past nine months.

The group reported a 4.9 per cent rise in passengers on domestic flights, while numbers travelling across Europe rose by 1.6 per cent.

Passenger revenue per kilometre, one of the industry’s preferred metrics, increased by 4.8 per cent driven by double-figure growth for domestic flights and those in Latin America and the Caribbean.

British Airways saw passenger numbers rise a more modest 1.1 per cent to 4.2 million. It has seen passenger numbers increase by 1.2 per cent over the year-to-date.

Last week, the travel giant saw its earnings knocked by a £134m hit from a summer of strike action as British Airways faced the first industrial action by pilots in its history.