International Airlines Group (IAG) has placed firm orders for a total of 31 Airbus short and long-haul aircraft.
The order includes the conversion of options on eight A350-900 and three A330-200s into firm orders for Iberia.
These will be delivered between 2016 and 2021, and will be used to replace and expand the Spanish carrier’s existing long-haul fleet.
British Airways already has 18 A350-1000 aircraft on order, the largest version of the A350 family.
In addition IAG has converted options on 20 A320 Neo aircraft, which will be delivered between 2020 and 2021. These aircraft have not yet been assigned to a particular carrier within the group, but will be used for fleet replacement.
The order follows last week’s announcement of an increase in first half profits at IAG. The group made an operating profit of €555 million for the six months to June 30, compared with a profit of €230 million for the same period last year, as revenue jumped by 11.6 per cent to €10.4 billion.
Of this BA made an operating profit of €570 million, up from a profit of €327 million in 2014. But sister airlines Iberia and Vueling both made half-year losses of €4 million and €5 million respectively.
Mark Caswell
