Double-digit improvements for revenues and volumes at IAG Cargo in Q3
08 / 11 / 2024
IAG Cargo shipments loading on aircraft Photo IAG Cargo via Hill+Knowlton Strategies
IAG Cargo enjoyed a bumper performance in the third quarter of the year with cargo revenues and volumes improving on a year earlier thanks to additional capacity and increased demand.
The cargo division, which includes the cargo capacity of British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus, saw cargo revenues between July and September increase by 15.6% year on year to €304m on the back of a 16.3% increase in cargo tonne kms (CTK) to 1.3bn CTK.
The revenue result is an improvement on the airline’s cargo performance in the first part of the year. Over the first nine months, cargo revenues were up by the lower amount of 0.5% to €870m and cargo traffic was up 13.3% to 3.8bn.
While rates across the industry have been on the up in 2024, this has been largely driven by rates out of the Asia Pacific market. Meanwhile, yields at IAG have been coming under pressure as some of its main markets have suffered from the addition of bellycapacity, although the figures have improved as the year has progressed.
IAG Cargo yields in the third quarter were down 0.6% year on year while they were more than 11% behind over the first nine months.
“Red Sea disruption in 2024 drove elevated sea-to-air freight conversion, which increased demand from South Asia and the Middle East, particularly in the second and third quarters,” the company said in its results announcement.
“Cargo yields, measured as cargo revenue per cargo tonne kilometre, were 11.3% [over the first nine months] below those of 2023 as a result of the increase in global passenger airline capacity across the industry. Also, prices were elevated in the first nine months of 2023, due to the residual effects of supply chain disruptions in late 2022.”
Meanwhile, the overall IAG group expects its strong financial performance to continue in the last quarter of the year after lifting operating profit 15% in the third quarter to over €2bn.
The improved profit was achieved as revenues increased almost 8% to €9.3bn in the three months ending 30 September, while net profit was 17% higher at €1.4bn.
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