British Airways and Iberia parent IAG has generated a 37% rise in operating profit to €975 million ($1.14 billion) for the first half, before exceptional items of €77 million.
This includes an adverse foreign exchange impact of €44 million.
IAG is forecasting a "double-digit percentage" improvement in operating profit for the full year, with second-half passenger unit revenue, at constant currency, increasing.
The company achieved a 2.3% rise in profit after tax of €567 million.
Passenger revenues for the six months to 30 June increased marginally, to €9.57 billion, while overall revenues reached €10.9 billion, up 0.9%.
Its operating profit for the second quarter rose 45% to €805 million, a performance which IAG chief Willie Walsh describes as "very strong".
IAG says passenger unit revenues for the quarter increased by 4%, at constant currency, while non-fuel unit costs, before exceptionals, increased by 3.5% – a rise which includes the effects of the severe disruption to British Airways operations from an IT power failure in May.
Walsh says that the underlying unit revenue trend improved, although he points out that IAG benefited from the shift in the Easter holiday period into the second quarter and that last year's base figure was "weak".
Source: Cirium Dashboard
