Tag Archives: IAG

European Commission approves with concerns IAG’s proposed acquisition of Aer Lingus

The European Commission (Brussels) has issued this statement concerning the proposed acquisition of Aer Lingus (Dublin) by the International Airlines Group (IAG) (London):

The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Irish airline Aer Lingus by International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG).

IAG is the holding company of British Airways, Iberia and Vueling. The clearance is conditional upon commitments offered by the parties to address the Commission’s concerns regarding the transaction as notified.

The Commission had concerns that the merged entity would have faced insufficient competition on several routes.

The Commission also found that the merged entity would have prevented Aer Lingus from continuing to provide traffic to the long-haul flights of competing airlines on several routes.

European Commissioner in charge of competition policy Margrethe Vestager said: “By obtaining significant concessions from the airlines the Commission has ensured that air passengers will continue to have a choice of airlines at competitive prices after IAG’s takeover of Aer Lingus.

The five million passengers travelling each year from Dublin and Belfast to London will be able to choose among several strong carriers.

And we are also protecting passengers travelling on connecting flights between Ireland and the rest of the world.”

The clearance decision is conditional upon the following commitments, which address the Commission’s concerns:

The release of five daily slot pairs at London-Gatwick airport to facilitate the entry of competing airlines on routes from London to both Dublin and Belfast ; and Aer Lingus continuing to carry connecting passengers to use the long-haul flights of competing airlines out of London- Heathrow, London-Gatwick, Manchester, Amsterdam, Shannon and Dublin .

The Commission’s investigation

The Commission’s investigation found that the transaction, as initially notified, would have led to high market shares on the Dublin-London, Belfast-London and Dublin-Chicago routes. The merged entity would have faced insufficient competitive constraints from the remaining players which could ultimately lead to higher prices.

The Commission also analysed whether there was a risk that IAG would prevent passengers flying on Aer Lingus’ short-haul flights, from Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Belfast, from

connecting with long-haul flights operated by competing airlines out of other European airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Dublin and Amsterdam.

IAG submitted commitments to release five daily slot pairs at London Gatwick which can be used on the specific routes of concern, namely Dublin-London and Belfast-London.

The availability of these slots, and other incentives such as the acquisition of grandfathering rights after a certain period of time, facilitate the entry of competing airlines.

Furthermore, IAG made a commitment to enter into agreements with competing airlines which operate long-haul flights out of London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Amsterdam, Shannon and Dublin so that Aer Lingus will continue to provide these airlines with connecting passengers.

Passengers will therefore continue to have a choice to use other airlines than IAG when connecting at these airports, for instance on Heathrow-New York, Gatwick-Las Vegas, Manchester-Orlando, Amsterdam-Singapore, Shannon-Chicago, and Dublin-Chicago.

These commitments adequately address all competition concerns identified by the Commission.

The Commission therefore concluded that the proposed transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or a substantial part of it. The transaction was notified to the Commission on 27 May, 2015.

Companies and products International Consolidated Airlines Group (“IAG” ) of the United Kingdom, is the holding company of British Airways, Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España S.A. and Vueling Airlines S.A.

Aer Lingus of Ireland is currently mainly owned by the Republic of Ireland and Ryanair, a competing carrier. Other significant shareholders include Etihad Airways.

Both IAG and Aer Lingus provide air transport for passengers, air transport for cargo, airport ground handling services and landside cargo handling services.

Merger control rules and procedures

The Commission has the duty to assess mergers and acquisitions involving companies with a turnover above certain thresholds (see Article 1 of the Merger Regulation) and to prevent concentrations that would significantly impede effective competition in the EEA or any substantial part of it.

The vast majority of mergers do not pose competition problems and are cleared after a routine review.

From the moment a transaction is notified, the Commission generally has a total of 25 working days to decide whether to grant approval (Phase I) or to start an in-depth investigation (Phase II).

The commitments offered by the Parties will be made available as of 16 July under the case number

The International Airlines Group (IAG) issued this statement:

International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) welcomes the decision by the European Commission to approve its Offer for Aer Lingus.

IAG has offered the following remedies to the EC as part of the regulatory process:

Five daily slot pairs will be made available to other airlines at London Gatwick for flights between the airport and Dublin or Belfast.
Specifically, two of the five daily frequencies must be operated between Gatwick and Dublin.
One daily frequency must be operated between Gatwick and Belfast.
The other two frequencies can be operated between Gatwick and either Dublin or Belfast.
Other airlines can apply for seats on Aer Lingus’ shorthaul network for their transfer passengers, on normal commercial terms.

Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. London’s Gatwick Airport was the main competitive concern for the EC. Aer Lingus’s Airbus A320-214 EI-DEE (msn 2250) arrives at LGW.

Aer Lingus aircraft slide show:

Ryanair agrees to sell its 29.8% stake in Aer Lingus to IAG

Ryanair (Dublin) has agreed to sell its 29.8 percent share in Aer Lingus (Dublin) to the International Airlines Group-IAG (British Airways, Iberia and Vueling Airlines) (London). The airline issued this statement:

The Board of Ryanair Holdings PLC today (July 10) confirmed that it has voted unanimously to accept the IAG offer for Ryanair’s 29.8% shareholding in Aer Lingus Group plc. Ryanair’s stake in Aer Lingus has been available for sale since May 2012 and the Board believes that the current IAG offer maximizes Ryanair shareholder value.

In line with this decision, Ryanair will now vote in favor of the motion at the Aer Lingus EGM on July 16 (to give the Irish Government a golden share over Aer Lingus’s Heathrow slots) and Ryanair will also vote its 29.8% shareholding in favor of acceptance of the IAG offer, subject to this offer receiving regulatory approval from the European competition authorities.

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

“We believe the IAG offer for Aer Lingus is a reasonable one in the current market and we plan to accept it, in the best interests of Ryanair shareholders. The price means that Ryanair will make a small profit on its investment in Aer Lingus over the past 9 years.

This sale of our stake is timely given that our original strategy for Aer Lingus (to use it as a mid-priced brand to offer competition to flag carriers at primary airports) has been overtaken by the successful rollout – since September 2013 – of Ryanair’s “Always Getting Better” strategy, which has seen the Ryanair brand successfully enter many of Europe’s primary airports, being rewarded with strong growth in our network, traffic, load factor and profitability, while keeping our fares low and our punctuality high.

We wish IAG well with their takeover of Aer Lingus. When Ryanair first bid for Aer Lingus in late 2006, Ryanair (36 million passengers) carried 4 times Aer Lingus traffic (9 million). Today Ryanair (over 100 million) carries more than 10 times Aer Lingus traffic (10 million), and we will continue to deliver the vast majority of Ireland’s traffic and tourism growth in the coming months and years.”

Ken Odeluga, a senior market analyst at www.cityindex.com.sg comments on this latest news:

It has taken the better part of seven months for IAG to put the final pieces of the Aer Lingus puzzle in place.

Ryanair has, after much delay, which it insisted was not down to intransigence, agreed to sell its 30% to IAG, which had already struck a deal with Ireland’s government to purchase the country’s 25%.

Reports that the EU will swiftly grant conditional approval appear credible.

Concessions by IAG were accepted by the antitrust authorities this morning. IAG offered to relinquish some slots and to give its competitors special terms, like allowing them to provide connecting at favourable terms.

All these agreements will tend to focus investors’ minds back on the details of the €1.3 billion bid, for which a strong part of the rationale rests on highly prized routes from Heathrow and lucrative routes between the UK and North America.

Aer Lingus had 300 slots at Heathrow as of December, with industry figures suggesting each is worth at least £5 million per annum.

Also, Aer Lingus is not the unprofitable airline it was say about 15 years ago or more. It’s stronger in margin terms than Lufthansa, for instance, and had at least €550 million in free cash at last tally.

The additional 3.5%-4% of Heathrow market share will consolidate IAG’s dominance at the hub, ahead of the extension of capacity.

But now comes the hard part.

Despite its recent forecast upgrades, IAG remains the least profitable airline operator based in the UK or Ireland.

EasyJet and Ryanair are tightly matched and each seems to swap marginal dominance over the other every few years or so.

Either way, the pair has largely locked out all other large competitors in Europe, including IAG, for the last decade.

Plus, having already written down the value of its Aer Lingus stake, Ryanair’s £400 million proceeds from the sale will go straight to its bottom line.

The only way for a rival catch and match with the two above in terms of profits, is to grow, probably inorganically, and probably not in Europe, in the medium term.

With the soon-to-be-cemented deal, IAG has given itself the best chance among any large European carrier to close the profit gap, and the scale to absorb strategic hits to margins in Europe.

Top Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS EI-DPM (msn 33640) lands in Tenerife Sur.

Ryanair aircraft slide show:

Aer Lingus aircraft slide show:

Bottom Copyright Photo: AirlinersGallery.com. Aer Lingus Airbus A319-111 EI-EPU (msn 3102) taxies to the gate at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Air France-KLM, easyJet, IAG, Lufthansa Group and Ryanair call for a new EU Aviation Strategy

The CEOs of Europe’s five largest airline groups – Air France-KLM, easyJet, International Airlines Group (IAG), Lufthansa Group and Ryanair – met collectively for the first time today (June 17) and agreed to work together to lobby for the development of a new EU Aviation Strategy that will support growth and jobs across Europe, strengthen the sector and give Europe’s passengers lower fares and more choice.

The meeting took place (in Brussels) in response to the new EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc’s consultation on a new EU Aviation Strategy. The five agreed a vision for this strategy that would match the revolution in aviation that the liberalization of Europe’s airline sector created a generation ago, through the creation of the internal aviation market.

The five airlines identified four measures that would support the Commission‘s objectives of enhancing the competitiveness of the European air transport industry both at European and international level, supporting growth and jobs across Europe and which would help consumers through the provision of more flights and lower fares.
These measures are:

The development of an EU Aviation strategy with a plan for a simple efficient regulatory structure, which would strengthen the competitiveness of European airlines, ensure jobs and growth through innovation (e.g. Horizon 2020), protect consumer interests and promote more efficiency to reduce costs.

Lowering the cost of the EU’s airports by ensuring that monopoly airports are effectively regulated; ensuring that passengers receive the full benefit of the commercial revenues which they create at airports; and that security charges are efficient. This could be achieved by reforming the Airport Charges Directive.

Delivering reliable and efficient airspace by reducing the cost of ATC provision; ensuring that ATC strikes do not cause disruption to passengers across Europe; resetting the Single European Sky strategy by focusing on using new technology to make efficiency savings; and using SESAR funding to drive compliance with the Single Sky framework.
Stimulating more economic activity and jobs by creating the right regulatory environment, removing passenger taxes and unreasonable environmental taxes.

The five CEOs – Alexandre de Juniac, Carolyn McCall, Willie Walsh, Carsten Spohr and Michael O’Leary – outlined their vision:

“Europe’s airlines form the most competitive sector in aviation with a diverse mix of carriers offering competition and choice to consumers.This is the first time we have set aside our competitive battles to highlight the importance of a new European Aviation Strategy.

The liberalization of aviation in Europe in the 1990’s, creating a fully liberalized single market with a comprehensive common regulatory framework 18 years ago, strongly enhanced competition across Europe.As a result, consumers have benefited with substantially lower fares and more routes across Europe and to the rest of the world. At the same time, EU airlines have maintained leading safety standards. The range and quality of services have increased and airline costs have fallen by 1 – 2% per year for the last two decades.

We believe that this decline should now be matched by a reduction in those costs which airlines do not control themselves. “As the new Transport Commissioner prepares a new Aviation Strategy for Europe she must drive more competition, encourage more efficiency and help reduce costs in other parts of our industry (such as monopoly airports and Air Traffic Control providers) and reduce the tax burden on passengers.”

Aviation is a proven driver of economic growth and jobs. The proposed measures will create many hundreds of thousands of jobs – particularly for young people, at a time of high youth unemployment in countries such as Italy or Spain – and increase Europe’s GDP. The group will write to the EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc asking for these measures to be put in place.

Alongside the proposed policy positions the five CEO’s confirmed their support for several key principles and action items which should underpin EU aviation policy. The most important of these is the commitment to safety and ensuring that safety standards are developed based on a risk based scientific assessment.

The CEOs confirmed their support for the liberalization of the whole aviation value chain and for pro-competition policy and regulation within the EU. They also confirmed their opposition to the provision of State-aid, as a general principle, to airlines and airports. They agreed that EU and national regulation and policies should support the efficient delivery of services, and that this includes the need for efficient operations to minimise the environmental impact of aviation. The importance of balanced consumer rights was also underlined; EU and national policies need to ensure that consumer rights are respected.

The CEOs agreed to work together to encourage the Commission and EU member states to take up the proposed measures. The five airlines agreed that airline representation in Brussels today is not as effective as it could be – with six airline representative organisations – and agreed to explore possible forms of future representation.

The five airlines between them carried a total of 420 million passengers in 2014, accounting for half of the passenger journeys in Europe.

IAG moves one step closer to acquiring a 25% share of Aer Lingus

British Airways (London) and Iberia (Madrid) parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) (London) has confirmed that it has reached agreement with Aer Lingus (Dublin) to make a €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) (£1 billion) cash offer for Ireland’s national carrier.

The deal, which comes after months of negotiations, values Aer Lingus at €2.55 a share ($2.80 a share).

The board of the Irish carrier is recommending the offer, which was made after confirmation from the Irish government that it is willing to sell its 25 percent stake in Aer Lingus.

The decision of the sale was made at a meeting of the Irish cabinet late on Tuesday, which itself followed indications earlier in the day from Brussels that European competition authorities would not stand in IAG’s path.

Yesterday (May 28) IAG updated the Aer Lingus offer with this formal statement: CLICK HERE

Read more from The Irish Times: CLICK HERE

Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock reporting from Manchester.

Copyright Photo: AirlinersGallery.com. Aer Lingus Airbus A320-214 EI-DEO (msn 2486) in the special Green Spirit – Official Airline of the Irish Rugby Team livery taxies at the home of IAG and British Airways – London (Heathrow).

Aer Lingus aircraft slide show:

International Airlines Group reports higher earnings in 2014 due to Iberia turnaround

International Airlines Group (IAG) (British Airways, Iberia and Vueling Airlines) (London and Madrid) presented Group consolidated results for the year to December 31, 2014:

IAG period highlights on results:

Fourth quarter operating profit €260 million (2013: operating profit of €113 million) before exceptional items

Revenue for the quarter up 9.9 per cent to €5,015 million, up 5.8 per cent at constant currency

Non-fuel unit costs for the quarter down 0.8 per cent at constant currency

Operating profit for the year to December 31, 2014 of €1,390 million (2013: operating profit of €770 million) before exceptional items

Revenue for the year up 8.0 per cent to €20,170 million and passenger unit revenue for the year down 0.4 per cent at constant currency

Fuel unit costs for the year down 7.8 per cent also down 7.8 per cent at constant currency.

Non-fuel unit costs before exceptional items for the year down 1.9 per cent, down 3.9 per cent at constant currency

Cash of €4,944 million at December 31, 2014 was up €1,311 million on 2013 year end

Adjusted gearing up 1 point to 51 per cent and adjusted net debt to EBITDAR improved 0.6 to 1.9 times

Willie Walsh, IAG Chief Executive Officer, said:

“We’re reporting strong full year results with an operating profit before exceptional items of €1,390 million which is up 80.5 per cent. Total revenue was up 8.0 per cent with non-fuel costs up 7.0 per cent and fuel costs up 0.6 per cent on capacity growth of 9.3 per cent.

“Iberia made an operating profit of €50 million compared to an operating loss of €166 million last year. The airline’s turnaround has been remarkable, both financially and operationally, and we’re very proud of its achievement especially its strong cost discipline. In 2013 we said our intention was for Iberia to breakeven in 2014 and it has fulfilled that promise.

“British Airways’ operating profit increased to €1,215 million up from €762 million last year which shows significant progress towards its long term targets. Vueling made an operating profit of €141 million, compared to an operating profit of €139 million in 2013, with the airline focusing on flexible growth.

“We achieved a strong unit cost performance, down 4.1 per cent, through increased productivity, supplier cost savings and lower fuel unit costs. The latter was boosted by the introduction of more efficient aircraft into our fleet and lower fuel prices in the last quarter of the year. However, the positive effect of the oil price reduction has been partly offset by hedging and significant currency impact.

“In the quarter, we made an operating profit before exceptional items of €260 million which is up from €113 million last year. Revenue for the quarter was up 9.9 per cent. Non-fuel costs were up 10.5 per cent and fuel costs decreased by 0.4 per cent on capacity growth of 5.8 per cent.”

British Airways aircraft slide show:

Iberia aircraft slide show:

Vueling Airlines aircraft slide show:

Is IAG’s seduction of Aer Lingus working?

International Airlines Group’s (IAG) (British Airways, Iberia and Vueling Airlines) (London) continued seduction of Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus (Dublin) seems to be finally working, as the airline is revealing the positives of a takeover by the owner of British and Spanish flag carriers British Airways (London-Heathrow) and Iberia (Madrid).

In a statement to The Guardian, Christoph Mueller, the clover-tailed carrier’s outgoing CEO says that Ireland’s entire economy will benefit if the International Airlines Group takes over Aer Lingus.

Mueller, who steps down as CEO of the airline this week, said IAG’s £1.02 billion (€1.4 billion) ($1.57 billion) offer to buy Aer Lingus would be the biggest single foreign investment in the Republic since the financial crash.

He continued that there was “a great deal of excitement” that Aer Lingus would be able to create jobs on a much larger scale if IAG took charge of the former state-run airline.

Mueller also stressed that talks between IAG and the Aer Lingus trade unions had been “very constructive”.

Aer Lingus announced on Tuesday that its profits had risen by almost 18% to €72 million ($81.6 million) from the previous year. Total revenue was up by 9.2%. For the first time in the airline’s history the number of passengers has exceeded 11 million.

On the hike in profits and the IAG take-over proposal, Mueller added: We profitably expanded our long-haul network utilizing our cost advantage and favorable geographic position and helped establish Dublin as the 7th largest European hub for transatlantic connections.

“Our short-haul business continued to demonstrate its resilience despite a highly competitive market. Commercial initiatives, in addition to cost control, led to the highest operating profit since the financial crisis and 17.8% above last year.”

Qatar Airways acquires a stake in IAG

Qatar Airways (Doha) has bought a 9.99 per cent stake in British Airways’ owner International Airlines Group (IAG), becoming the company’s largest shareholder.

The move will cement a close commercial relationship between BA and the airline, whose owner, the Qatari government, is a significant investor in Britain.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of International Airlines Group, the BA owner, said in : “We’re delighted to have Qatar Airways, one of the world’s premier airlines, as a long-term supportive shareholder. We will talk to them about what opportunities exist to work more closely together and further IAG’s ambitions as the leading global airline group.”

BA sponsored Qatar’s entry into the Oneworld airline alliance, and they also have a cargo partnership. Qatar has indicated it would seek to extend ties following the investment, which could include codeshares on flights via the Gulf state, allowing the airlines to sell tickets on each other’s planes.

Akbar Al Baker, the Qatar airline’s CEO said: “IAG represents an excellent opportunity to further develop our westwards strategy.”

Qatar Airways is prohibited from owning more than a minority stake in IAG under EU ownership rules and said it does not currently intend to increase its 9.99% shareholding.

Report by Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock from Manchester.

Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Qatar Airways’ second Airbus A380, the pictured A380-861 A7-APB (msn 143) completes its final approach to London’s Heathrow Airport, the home of IAG’s British Airways.

Qatar Airways aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Asia-3/Airlines-Asia3-QZ/Qatar-Airways

Will Aer Lingus now accept IAG’s new raised cash bid to acquire the Irish carrier?

Aer Lingus (Dublin) is now expected to recommend a takeover by the International Airlines Group-IAG (London) (British Airways, Iberia and Vueling Airlines) according to a report today by The Irish Times. This change of heart comes after the IAG raised its bid for the flag carrier to a €2.50 ($2.80) a share cash bid. The offer could face opposition from the Irish government. If accepted and approved, Aer Lingus would join the Oneworld alliance.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Aer Lingus controls valuable slots at London’s Heathrow Airport. Airbus A320-214 EI-DEF (msn 2256) completes its final approach to Heathrow.

Aer Lingus aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-1/Airlines-Europe-1/Aer-Lingus

IAG reveals failed Aer Lingus bid

International Airlines Group (IAG) (London), the parent company of British Airways (Heathrow), Iberia (Madrid) and low cost carrier Vueling Airlines (Barcelona), has revealed that the board of Aer Lingus (Dublin) has rejected a potential takeover attempt.

IAG confirmed in a stock exchange disclosure it had “submitted a proposal” to make an offer for Aer Lingus, but it added that this was “rejected by the board of Aer Lingus.”

IAG added: “There can be no certainty that any further proposal or offer will be forthcoming. A further statement will be made if and when appropriate,”.

“The board has reviewed the Proposal and believes that it fundamentally undervalues Aer Lingus and its attractive prospects. Accordingly, the Proposal was rejected on 16 December 2014,” Aer Lingus said in a stock market disclosure. “Shareholders are strongly advised to take no action.”

This is not the first time Aer Lingus has been the target of a takeover bid. Irish competitor Ryanair (Dublin) has made several attempts to acquire its fellow Irish carrier, but each of these efforts has been blocked on competition grounds.

Last September, a UK Competition Commission (UKCC) investigation into these unsuccessful Ryanair bids revealed that Aer Lingus was looking to combine with another carrier in 2012 and has more recently explored a variety of merger and acquisition scenarios. They also revealed that several sets of talks relating to Aer Lingus acquiring, merging and forming strategic initiatives with other airlines.

Ryanair was ordered to sell its 29.8% stake in Aer Lingus down to 5% by the UKCC, partly based on concerns the shareholding could jeopardize Aer Lingus’ consolidation with other carriers. Ryanair responded by putting its entire stake up for sale, with certain conditions. More recently Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has bemoaned a total lack of interest in the Aer Lingus stake.

O’Leary, speaking at the release of Ryanair’s first-quarter results this summer, said: “We’ve had depressingly received no interest in Aer Lingus stake, which has been up for sale for about 18 months.”

The takeover bid from IAG could have could have valued the Republic’s flag carrier at at least €1 billion, industry sources estimate. Earlier, Aer Lingus shares had jumped 14% after the Financial Times reported that IAG was considering a bid.

Reported by Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock from Manchester.

Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Aer Lingus A320-214 EI-DEN (msn 2432) approaches the runway in London (Heathrow).

Aer Lingus aircraft slide show:

IAG reports a third quarter net profit of $751 million

International Airlines Group (IAG) (British Airways, Iberia, Iberia Express and Vueling Airlines) (London) reported a third quarter net profit of €598 million ($751 million) up 3.1% from €580 million ($728.4 million) in the same quarter a year ago.

The airline group issued this full statement:

NINE MONTHS RESULTS ANNOUNCEMENT

International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) presented Group consolidated results for the nine months to September 30, 2014.

IAG period highlights on results:

Third quarter operating profit €900 million (2013: €690 million) before exceptional items, €210 million better than last year
At constant currency, third quarter passenger unit revenue down 0.9 per cent and non-fuel unit costs down 4.5 per cent
Revenue for the quarter up 8.5 per cent to €5,866 million, up 6.9 per cent at constant currency
Fuel unit costs for the quarter down 7.5 per cent at constant currency
Operating profit for the nine months €1,130 million (2013: €657 million) before exceptional items, €473 million better than last year
Exceptional charge of €82 million for currency re-evaluation
Cash of €5,064 million at September 30, 2014, up €1,431 million on 2013 year end
Adjusted gearing down 4 points to 46 per centPerformance summary:


	Nine months to September 30
Financial data € million	2014	2013	Higher / (lower)
Passenger revenue	13,435	12,299	9.2 %
Total revenue	15,155	14,113	7.4 %
Operating profit before exceptional items	1,130	657
Exceptional items	(82)	(309)
Operating profit after exceptional items	1,048	348
Profit after tax and exceptional items	694	77
Basic earnings per share (€ cents)	33.4	3.2
Operating figures	2014	2013	Higher / (lower)
Available seat kilometres (ASK million)	190,234	172,234	10.5 %
Revenue passenger kilometres (RPK million)	153,537	140,220	9.5 %
Seat factor (per cent)	80.7	81.4	(0.7pts)
Passenger revenue per RPK (€ cents)	8.75	8.77	(0.2)%
Passenger unit revenue per ASK (€ cents)	7.06	7.14	(1.1)%
Non-fuel unit costs per ASK (€ cents)	5.00	5.21	(4.0)%
€ million	At September 30,	At December 31,	Higher / (lower)
€ million	2014	2013	Higher / (lower)
Cash and interest-bearing deposits	5,064	3,633	39.4 %
Adjusted net debt(1)	5,547	5,701	(2.7)%
Adjusted gearing(2)	46%	50%	(4pts)

(1) Adjusted net debt is net debt plus capitalised operating aircraft lease costs.
(2) Adjusted gearing is adjusted net debt, divided by adjusted net debt and adjusted equity.

Willie Walsh, IAG Chief Executive Officer, said:

“This quarter we are reporting an operating profit before exceptional items of €900 million. At constant currency, revenue was up 6.9 per cent with non-fuel unit costs down 4.5 per cent and fuel unit costs down 7.5 per cent.

“We continued to grow capacity efficiently and both our non-fuel and fuel unit cost performances were strong with the latter boosted by the introduction of new, more efficient aircraft into our fleet.

“British Airways made an operating profit of €607 million, compared to €477 million last year, and grew capacity while retaining its focus on cost control. Iberia’s operating profit increased to €162 million from €74 million last year highlighting its strong cost discipline combined with the continued benefits of restructuring. Vueling continued to grow, developing new bases in Italy and Belgium, with an operating profit of €140 million compared to €139 million last year.

“In the nine months, we made an operating profit of €1,130 million before exceptional items, up by €473 million from last year”.

Copyright Photo: Paul Denton/AirlinersGallery.com. Iberia improved its financial performance with labor stability which was one of the main drivers for a better financial performance of the group in the third quarter. Iberia’s Airbus A320-214 EC-MCS (msn 6244) taxies at Geneva in the new look.

British Airways: