Aer Lingus parent company records surge in profits

By Neil Lancefield, PA Transport Correspondent

Aer Lingus’s parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) said its operating profit surged by 22.1 per cent last year to €4.3 billion.

That is up from €3.5 billion in 2023.

The company attributed the increase to “the successful execution of our transformation programme”.

IAG said its available seat kilometres – a measure of its capacity – grew by 6.2 per cent in 2024.

It is proposing to pay a final dividend to shareholders for 2024 which will take the total payments to €435 million.

IAG chief executive Luis Gallego said: “These results highlight the quality of our businesses and effectiveness of our strategy, underpinned by the successful execution of our transformation programme across the group.

“We are delivering world-class margins and returns, in line with the targets we set out to the market just over a year ago.

“We are focused on continuing to make our brands the first choice for customers, by growing our network and enhancing the customer proposition, while our disciplined capital allocation ensures we can continue to invest in the business, deliver strong financial results and create sustainable value for our shareholders.

“We are particularly pleased to announce that IAG is proposing a final dividend which takes our total dividend for the year to €435 million and intend to return up to a further €1 billion of excess capital to shareholders in up to 12 months.”

IAG recorded a revenue growth of 9 per cent, which it said was driven by “our market-leading network, strong brands and operational focus”.

IAG, which also owns the British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Level airlines, said the group carried 122 million passengers in 2024, up 5.6 per cent from 116,000 in 2023.