IAG reports 43.5% increase in half-year profits

British Airways parent International Airlines Group has reported a strong first half of 2025, with “robust demand” driving an 8% year-on-year increase in revenue and a 43.5% increase in operating profit.

In a half-yearly trading update, IAG said revenue grew to €15.9 billion for the six months to the end of June, with operating profit before exceptional items of €1.88 billion.

Operating profit in the second quarter increased 35.4% to €1.68 billion, with operating margin rising by 2.9 percentage points to 11.8%. A total of €1.5 billion has been returned to shareholders through dividends and buybacks in 2025.

The group said it remained confident of delivering good earnings growth, margin and shareholder returns this year, but did not upgrade its forecast and said it remained “mindful of the ongoing uncertainty that may result from the geopolitical and macroeconomic backdrop”.

Booked revenue is in line with last year, with IAG airlines 57% booked for the second half of the year as of July 29.

Investment in North Atlantic routes continues, with a 1.1% capacity increase this year, though the company noted “some weakness in US point-of-sale economy leisure demand” in the second quarter.

Chief executive Luis Gallego said: “Our strong performance in the first half of 2025 reflects the resilience of demand for travel and the success of our ongoing transformation, underpinned by the fundamental strengths of our group.

“We continue to benefit from the trend of a structural shift in consumer spending towards travel. We remain focused on our market-leading brands and core geographies, where we continue to see robust performance, allowing us to invest in fleet as well as technology to improve operational efficiency and customer experience.

“These results give us confidence that we will deliver good earnings growth and margin progression for the full year and enable us to create value for our shareholders through our sustainable dividend and the share buyback.”