Passengers turning to British Airways have kicked the airline into profit.
For the first nine months of the year, pre-tax profits have reached €103 million, according to its owner, International Airlines Group.
Profits were significantly higher than had been forecast by market analysts. Last year, the group reported a loss of €121 million.
IAG was formed in 2011 when BA and Iberia merged. It benefitted not only from BA’s strong performance but also from positive results from Vueling, the low-cost Spanish airline carrier which was bought in April.
Vueling, based in Barcelona, serves 107 destinations including Lisbon and Porto as well as Heathrow and Gatwick. With 62 new jet planes on order, it appears ready to challenge Ryanair and easyJet.
Iberia, struggling with a €160 million operating loss, has begun to perform better after the loss of 2,700 jobs.
Willie Walsh, chief executive of IAG, did not criticise his rival Ryanair, but did say: “I don’t think you could have achieved those sorts of results in an environment as bleak as some people would want you to believe.
Ryanair earlier this week issued its second profit warning in two months as it slashes fares and seeks to improve customer service to beat off growing competition.
