British Airways owner International Airlines Group suffered an 83% third quarter revenue slump as Covid curbs continued to stifle travel.
Total revenue fell to €1.2 billion compared to €7.3 billion last year.
The resulted in a €1.3 billion operating loss compared to a €1.4 billion profit in the same period last year.
Passenger traffic dropped by 88% with the load factor down by 38.8 points to 48.9%.
IAG now plans fourth quarter capacity to be no more than 30% over the same period in 2019 “in response to the high uncertainty of the current environment”.
As a result, the group no longer expects to reach breakeven in terms of net cash flows from operating activities during the final three months of its financial year.
IAG said: “Recent overall bookings have not developed as previously expected due to additional measures implemented by many European governments in response to a second wave of Covid-19 infections, including an increase in local lockdowns and extension of quarantine requirements to travellers from an increasing number of countries.
“At the same time, initiatives designed to replace quarantine periods and increase customer confidence to book and travel, such as pre-departure testing and air corridor arrangements, have not been adopted by governments as quickly as anticipated.”
IAG last month announced a deeper capacity cut from 74% to 78% in the third quarter and down from 46% to 60% in the final three months as a result of a “levelling off of bookings” following the reintroduction of quarantine requirements by many European governments.
The parent company of carriers including Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling, insisted that its liquidity remains strong.
The group had total liquidity of €6.6 billion at the end of September, including €5 billion of cash, cash equivalents and interest-bearing deposits and €1.6 billion of undrawn and committed general and aircraft facilities.
In addition, €2.74 billion of gross proceeds from a rights issue were received in early October to give total liquidity of €9.3 billion.
Detailed results for the third quarter will be released on October 30.
