Aer Lingus carried 11,339,000 passengers in 2025 and recorded an operating profit of €282m for full year 2025, which rose by €77m from full year 2024. Revenue was €2,529m and margin 11.1pc.
The airline achieved operating profits of €135m in Q2 and €170m in Q3 2025. Aer Lingus increased overall capacity by 6.6pc and passenger numbers by almost 3pc in 2025 compared to 2024.
Transatlantic capacity to North America grew by 7.4pc with new routes to Indianapolis and Nashville. Aer Lingus took delivery of Airbus A321XLR aircraft and partnered with Starlink for free Wi-Fi on long-haul services.
IAG group operating profit increased by 17.3pc to a record €5.0bn (£4.4bn), up from €4.3bn in 2024. Revenue grew by 3.5pc to reach €33.2bn. vOperating margin expanded to 15.1pc (a 1.3 percentage point increase).
IAG announced a €1.5bn return of excess cash to shareholders over the next 12 months. Net debt fell to €5.9bn, significantly improving the group’s financial leverage. Operational Performance British Airways achieved a strong margin of 15.2pc.
Total capacity (measured in available seat kilometres) grew by 2.4pc in 2025. On-time performance rose by 4.6 percentage points to 82.4pc.
IAG confirmed it is monitoring the sale of Portuguese carrier TAP for potential acquisition if the terms are favourable. The group announced a fleet-wide partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink to provide high-speed Wi-Fi, starting with British Airways in March 2026. The company remains “positively positioned for 2026,” citing robust travel demand in core markets and benefits from lower fuel costs.
In 2025, the Group took delivery of 25 new aircraft from Airbus and Boeing: 13 for British Airways, 7 for Iberia, and 5 for Aer Lingus. The Group also took delivery of nine used Airbus A320neo aircraft direct from aircraft lessors for Vueling, partly to backfill additional aircraft maintenance requirements linked to the Pratt & Whitney ‘GTF’ engines issue.
The annual accounts value the brand at €110m, compared with €306m for Iberia, and an intangible good will value of €272m.
Aer LIngus CEO Lynne Embleton explained that Aer Lingus operated in a highly competitive environment with a 45pc increase in competitor seats this winter and 40pc over the previous two summers.
She noted that Aer Lingus achieved its highest profit since 2018, best operational performance since 2016 and highest Net Promoter Score in 2025. The CEO stated that the profit decline in Q4 2025 resulted from increased transatlantic competitor capacity which carried pressure into early 2026.
Embleton expressed concern that the Dublin Airport passenger cap needed removal by October 2026 to avoid risks for summer 2027 slot allocations. She confirmed that a meeting with the Minister for Transport had been arranged after St Patrick’s Day 2026 to stress the urgency of resolving the passenger cap issue.
Lynne Embleton shared “2025 was a strong year for Aer Lingus. We reinforced our North Atlantic leadership and accelerated our transformation, with digital innovation, operational excellence and network expansion enabling us to deliver a 11.1pc operating margin despite a significant increase in competitor capacity.”
“We’re in a very very competitive environment and we’re fighting for every passenger. You you’ll have seen the amount of capacity that’s come into Ireland over the last year. we were we’ve got 45pc more competitive seats this winter. We’ve had 40pc over the last two summers. So highly highly competitive market.”
“Last year was our highest profit since 2018. It was also our best operational performance since 2016, our highest net promoter score for customers. So, it was a very satisfying year, but we’re certainly not complacent and the competitive capacity that we saw in quarter 4, that certainly carries through to the first part of this year.”
“What we’re seeing is actually very strong business travel across the Atlantic. and that’s great news for the economy overall as a good indicator. we’re seeing economy travel holding up well.”
“It comes back to the same issue. We need the cap removed. We need the cap removed quickly. and we’re just looking really for this whole process to be accelerated to give everybody the confidence and certainty that we need.” “
My concern is that removal of the passenger cap won’t happen early enough and October really matters because it’s October this year when the IIA declare capacity and slots for the airport for summer 27 and that’s really when the danger zone is. So we really need this resolved by October.”
“As we enter our 90th anniversary year, we are operating our largest ever transatlantic summer schedule, strengthening connectivity to, through and beyond Ireland. Continued investment in next-generation aircraft and new technology, including our partnership with Starlink, underpins our focus on sustainable growth, enhanced service for our customers and long-term competitiveness. Urgent resolution of the passenger cap issue is required from Government- it is imperative to now immediately enact legislation which will enable the Minister for Transport to remove the passenger cap and provide the certainty that is required for the Irish economy.”
“Looking ahead to the remainder of 2026, we will continue to focus on efficiency, productivity and making investments to improve operating margin and to realise Aer Lingus’ full potential.”
Luis Gallego shared “We reported another year of exceptional performance in 2025, delivering for our customers with continued improvements in ontime performance and customer satisfaction. This sector-leading operational performance is translating into world-class financial results, with outstanding margins and superior return on capital. “Execution of our strategy and transformation programme is creating value for shareholders, with adjusted EPS growth of 22.4% and, in line with our disciplined capital allocation framework, we have grown the dividend per share by 8.9% and are announcing today a further return of excess cash of €1.5 billion. We are confident as we look to the future, with compelling market dynamics, long-term secular growth and a clear plan to leverage our business model and deliver our strategy. I want to thank all of our employees across IAG for their hard work and dedication, and I look forward to a year of further success in 2026.”
