Cargo tonne kilometres (CTK) across the International Airlines Group (IAG) fell by 4.3 per cent in June compared to the same month last year to 458 million with British Airways posting a drop of 6.3 per cent.
IAG’s freight numbers are made up of British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia and in the first six months of the year CTKs are down slightly by 0.5 per cent across all three combined to 2.7 billion.
British Airways’ CTKs fell 6.3 per cent in June and two per cent in the first half of 2018, to 354 million and 2.1 billion, respectively.
Iberia’s CTKs, which include Iberia Express and Level, grew by 4.5 per cent in June and have increased by 5.7 per cent in the first half of the year, to 92 million and 540 million, respectively.
Aer Lingus’ CTKs were flat in June, but up 1.3 per cent in the first half of the year to 13 million and 78 million, respectively.
In 2017, all IAG’s airlines posted growth in CTKs as they increased by 5.6 per cent as a whole to 5.7 billion for the year.
On 28 June, IAG launched its new short-haul low-cost Austrian subsidiary, branded as Level, with flights from Vienna starting on 17 July, 2018. The new subsidiary will have an Austrian Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) and will base four Airbus A321 aircraft in Vienna from where it will fly to 14 European destinations.
In revealing traffic figures, IAG also said that expansion of a third runway at Heathrow Airport should be “undertaken in a cost effective way” and that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), as regulator, “must protect consumers by keeping airport charges flat”.
IAG also said on 26 June, Iberia took delivery of its first Airbus A350-900 which will operate its inaugural long-haul flight to New York in August. Iberia will receive 15 more Airbus A350-900’s by 2021.
