IAG’s share price has risen 4.8pc in early trading after reporting strong Q2 results, Aer Lingus made a profit of €135m.in April-June 2025 and €80m for the first half of the year as parent IAG reported its strongest ever Q2 on the back of Trans-Atlantic demand. Revenue for the first half of 2025 grew by 8.0pc to €15,906m, driven by high demand for the network and brands.
Aer LIngus passenger numbers were up by 7.5pc for the quarter from 7.337m to 7.884m and up by 3.2pc for the first six months of 2025, from 5.114m to 5.311m, revenue of €211.82 per passenger.
Aer Lingus Q2 2025 financial performance was driven by capacity growth and a robust revenue performance and also benefitted from favourable fuel pricing. In Q2 there was 10.9pc growth in overall capacity and a 4.3pc increase in passenger numbers compared to Q2 2024.
Aer Lingus took delivery of its third A321 XLR aircraft in May with the remaining three XLRs expected to join the fleet later this year.
Across the group, operating profit before exceptional items for H1 2025 rose by 43.5pc to €1,878m, boosted by revenue, fuel, and foreign exchange gains. Aer Lingus showed a decline in load factor to 78.1 down 1.3 on 2024. ASK was up 8.6pc. The results noted that Iberia and Aer Lingus are achieving profitable growth by increasing flight frequency and seasonality, including direct routes to secondary cities like Nashville and Indianapolis.
Aer Lingus is seeing growing demand for travel from Ireland to England and Europe, while British Airways increased capacity by 9.2pc in the second quarter, primarily in the leisure market. Passenger unit revenue in intra-Europe decreased by 0.4pc in the first half, with British Airways’ growth reflecting high capacity increases while Vueling experienced softer demand in some northern European regions.
Aer Lingus improved its operational performance with an OTP increase of 4.5 points to 81.3%, focusing on enhanced ground handling at Dublin airport. In Summer 2025 Aer Lingus began operating its biggest ever North American network including starting its new services from Dublin to Nashville and Indianapolis together with an expanded European leisure network. Aer Lingus also announced its first direct flight to Cancún Mexico, starting in January 2026
The Group has announced a strategic order for 71 new aircraft to support long-term growth and replace older models, set to be delivered between 2027 and 2033, of which 44 are dedicated to British Airways Aer Lingus must compete with Level and Iberia for an order of 21.
In Q2, operating profit for the group increased by 35.4pc to €1,680m, reflecting, the group says, the success of the transformation programme aimed at improving customer experience.
The strong balance sheet allows for flexible capital allocation, with a net leverage of 0.7x and gross leverage of 2.0x, supported by solid free cash flow.
Adjusted earnings per share grew by 69.9pc, with €1.5bn in cash returns to shareholders through dividends and buybacks announced for 2025.
Aer Lingus’s CEO, Lynne Embleton shared, “Our Q2 2025 financial performance builds upon the momentum seen in the business in both Q4 2024 and Q1 2025. The recent An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) decision on night-time noise introduced an unnecessary annual movement restriction at Dublin Airport which is likely to impede both future growth of north Atlantic traffic and the basing of additional short-haul aircraft in Dublin. This restriction on night-time movements will have to be removed. Together with the continued uncertainty around the passenger cap at Dublin Airport, it will have negative economic and employment impacts. It is also now imperative that Government intervenes and urgently legislates for the removal of the passenger cap.
Luis Gallego, IAG Chief Executive Officer, shared: “The €71m increase in operating profit for Aer Lingus mainly reflected growth, with the introduction of Airbus A321XLR aircraft, together with the impact of industrial action in the 2024 base.. Our strong performance in the first half of 2025 reflects the resilience of demand for travel and the success of our ongoing transformation, underpinned by the fundamental strengths of our Group, We continue to benefit from the trend of a structural shift in consumer spending towards travel. We remain focused on our marketleading brands and core geographies, where we continue to see robust performance, allowing us to invest in fleet as well as technology to improve operational efficiency and customer experience. “These results give us confidence that we will deliver good earnings growth and margin progression for the full year and enable us to create value for our shareholders through our sustainable dividend and the share buyback.”
