The group that includes Iberia and Vueling warns of a “complicated” summer at airports due to increased demand
IAG, the holding company that groups Iberia, Vueling, British Airways and Aer Lingus, will return to profits this year after the unprecedented crisis since the pandemic broke out in 2020. “We hope to be profitable from the second quarter and end the year with a profit,” IAG CEO Luis Gallego said at the shareholders’ meeting held Thursday in Madrid.
The predictions are to recover 80% of 2019 flights this year. During his speech, reiterating “the very complicated times” they have had to go through, he explained the company’s plan to replace 140 aircraft over the next five years in search of more efficient operations. Gallego, for example, recalled the company’s commitment to sustainability and its commitment to using SAF fuel and hydrogen for short-haul flights.
Likewise, the CEO predicted that this summer “will be complicated at many airports” due to the explosion in demand, which will be difficult to manage on many counts, although he did not address the controversy over the past few weeks over the lack of agents at the airport. passport checks at Spanish airports, that Iberia denounced that 15,000 connections had been broken in three months and that the Interior Department announced the arrival of 500 additional agents.
On the other hand, the group confirmed the loan to Air Europa for a value of 100 million euros over seven years, which was formalized this Wednesday, with the future option to convert it into a participation of up to 20% of the capital of Lucht Europa.
The meeting also approved the re-election of Luis Gallego as CEO of the group, as well as the annual accounts and management reports of the company and its consolidated group for 2021. The re-election of other independent non-executive directors and the remuneration policy for them, as well as the transfer from 106.3 million euros from the ‘legal reserve’ account to the ‘voluntary reserves’ account.
Source: La Verdad
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