British Airways owner IAG suffers £6.8 billion loss as Covid impact hits

Credit: PA

British Airways owner IAG made a post-tax loss of £6.8 billion in 2020 as a result of the impact of the Covid pandemic.

The swing is an about turn from the £1.48 billion profit made in 2019.

IAG, which also owns Aer Lingus and Iberia, saw revenues collapse 69% from £22.2 billion to just £6.8 billion due to the disruption of coronavirus and the subsequent lockdowns.

British Airways announced in April that it would cut up to 12,000 jobs. Credit: PA

The number of passengers using its airlines remains significantly down on pre-pandemic levels and fell again during the traditional peak festive season.

The company said capacity for 2020 was just 33.5% of 2019 levels and only 26.6% in the final three months of the year.

In the three months to December, IAG also made an operating loss of £1.3 billion.