- Aer Lingus RPK up 11.6pc
- Passenger numbers now 50pc higher than when airline was purchased by IAG
- Overall IAG passenger numbers up 4.1pc to 104.83m
Aer Lingus Chief Executive Stephen Kavanagh and IAG Chief Executive Willie Walsh
Aer Lingus traffic (Revenue Passenger Kilometres) was up 11.6pc to 21,412k, indicating passenger numbers of more than 16m. Available Seat Kilometres were up 12.1pc to 26,386 and cargo tonne kilometres up 22pc to 155k. Madrid-based Iberia was up 7.6pc.
IAG passenger numbers on its four airlines were up 4.1pc to 104.83m, making them the third largest aviation group in Europe after Lufthansa‘s five airline group (130m) and Ryanair (129m).
According to a statement: On 8 December, British Airways launched a flexible benefits scheme incorporating a new defined contribution pension scheme, following consultation with its trade unions and employees. The scheme will open on April 1 2018 and will replace the main UK defined benefit scheme, the New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS), and the main UK defined contribution scheme, the British Airways Retirement Plan (BARP). The changes are subject to NAPS trustees agreeing to amend the scheme’s rules to enable closure to future accrual.
On December 29, IAG announced that it is to buy assets of the Austrian airline NIKI, which was formerly part of the Air Berlin group, for €20 million and provide liquidity to NIKI of up to €16.5 million. The transaction, which is being made by a newly formed subsidiary of Vueling that will be incorporated as an Austrian company and run initially as a separate operation, is subject to customary closing conditions such as the EC competition approval. The assets include up to 15 A320 family aircraft and an attractive slot portfolio at various airports including Vienna, Dusseldorf, Munich, Palma and Zurich.
