British Airways owner IAG to buy 53 new aircraft as earnings beat estimates
British Airways and Aer Lingus owner, IAG, has announced the order of 53 new aircraft for its fleet, alongside better-than-expected first-quarter results.
IAG announced the order of 53 new Airbus and Boeing aircraft for its long-haul fleet, comprising 32 Boeing 787-10 aircraft for British Airways and 21 Airbus A330-900neo aircraft for Aer Lingus, Iberia and LEVEL.
While still subject to shareholder approval, IAG hopes to deliver the new aircraft between 2028 and 2033.
These new orders follow orders already placed in March this year, and announced today, for another 18 craft, including six Airbus A350-900s for Iberia, six Airbus A350-1000s and six Boeing 777-9s for British Airways.
Separately, the British Airways owner told markets this morning that revenue grew 9.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, to €7bn (£5.94bn) from €6.4bn last year.
Operating profit more than doubled, from €68m to €198m, while the firm’s profit after tax swung from a €4m loss last year to a €176m profit in 2025.
IAG attributed the boost in operating profit to strong revenue growth and a lower fuel price, which offset expected cost increases. Its operating margin also increased to 2.8 per cent.
British Airways owner on Trump tariffs
The company said it did not expect the impact of Trump’s tariffs to affect its outlook in the year ahead, despite “being mindful of the geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty”.
Chief executive Luis Gallego said IAG has continued to see “resilient” demand for air travel across its core markets and for its brands, which include British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus.
“Our strong first quarter results reflect the performance of our businesses and the effectiveness of our strategy and transformation. We continue to deliver on our industry-leading financial targets.
“We remain focused on strengthening our broad portfolio of market-leading brands across our core markets of the North Atlantic, Latin America and intra-Europe,” Gallego said.
IAG has completed €530m (£449m) of share buybacks in 2025 so far, and has proposed a final dividend of €288m, bringing its total dividend for 2024 to €435m.
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said: “The group’s market-leading networks, strong brands, and fierce operational focus continue to drive performance skyward. Profitability’s also getting a helping hand from falling fuel costs.
IAG shows no signs of slowing, and demand for its routes remains strong despite the current pressure on consumers’ incomes. Tariffs had been weighing on sentiment towards the travel sector. But with 80 per cent of flights for the second quarter already booked, the outlook is brighter than many expected.”
City analysts reiterate ‘Buy’ rating
Following the results, Gerald Khoo research analyst at Panmure Gordon reitered his ‘Buy’ rating for the IAG share price with a price target of 500p.
Khoo said: “IAG trades on a 2025 P/E of 5.2x…which we consider to be attractive. Although the share price has recovered over the past month, there has still been a net adverse impact from fears over the fallout from the US tariff turmoil on air travel demand, to/from the US in particular.
IAG’s outlook comments suggest this may not be fully justified, given the robust overall demand and strength in the premium cabin. In any case, looking beyond the very short term, we consider IAG’s rating to be wholly inconsistent with the group’s strong margins.”