The Diplomat
Iberia registered an operating profit of 940 million euros in 2023, more than double (+141.6%) than the previous year, which represents a record for the company, as reported yesterday by the IAG group when announcing its results. annual financials.
The Spanish airline earned a total of 6,958 million euros in 2023, 26.25% more, of which 5,262 million came from ticket revenue (+30.18%), Europa Press reports.
Likewise, the company’s capacity increased by 18.5% compared to the previous year and 3.2% more than in 2019, before the pandemic. The load factor stood at 87.2%, 3 percentage points more than in 2022 and unchanged compared to 2019.
Iberia was also positioned as the most punctual airline in Europe and the fifth most punctual in the world, with an on-time performance index of 88.6%.
By 2024, the group intends for Iberia to grow “efficiently” in the attractive and growing market of Latin America. According to the company, Iberia has “strong cultural ties” with the countries of this region and, in addition, is well placed to “take advantage of the growing traffic” with Madrid.
Marco Sansavini, new president
Coinciding with the publication of the results, yesterday it was announced that the current president and CEO of Vueling, Marco Sansavini, will occupy the same positions in Iberia starting next April.
He will replace Fernando Candela, who from that date will continue as CEO of Level. In turn, the director of People, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability of IAG, Carolina Martinoli, will be the new CEO and president of Vueling.
On the other hand, IAG noted, with respect to the group’s other companies, that British Airways will continue to rebuild its long-haul capacity to pre-COVID-19 levels and Iberia will grow efficiently in the attractive and growing Latin American market.
IAG made an after-tax profit of €2,655 million in 2023, more than six times what it earned the previous year, while its operating profit stood at €3,507 million, almost three times more.
Of the latter, almost 1.4 billion euros were generated by businesses in Spain, around 39% of the total. The company highlights that this figure demonstrates “the greatest balance” in the business portfolio.
Vueling also contributed to this, with an operating profit of 369 million euros, also almost double that of 2022 (+103%). The Barcelona-based company increased its capacity by 10.5% in 2023 compared to 2022 and 8.5% compared to 2019, with a load factor of 91.4%, 4.2 percentage points more than the last year.
For its part, British Airways obtained an operating profit of 1,431 million euros, more than quadruple, and Aer Lingus achieved an operating profit of 225 million euros, almost four times more.
