Aer Lingus made an operating loss of €95m during the first six months of 2022, more than halving its losses year-on-year (-€192m) following the lifting of Covid restrictions.
The IAG-owned airline saw revenue increase more than ten-fold year-on-year, rising from €65m in the first half of 2021 to €666m in H1 this year. The carrier now has total assets of €2.16bn and liabilities of €2.15bn.
IAG, which also owns British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, returned to profit for the first time since the start of the pandemic in the second quarter, reporting an operating profit before exceptional items of €287m while making an operating loss of €438m for the half-year.
The group had total liquidity of €13.5bn at the end of June, with committed and undrawn general and aircraft financing facilities of €4.3m, including the additional €200m loan given to Aer Lingus from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund earlier this year.
Net debt at the group fell €688m during the half-year to €10.1bn, while passenger capacity in the second quarter averaged 78%, up from 65% in Q1, and driven by European short-haul (89%) of 2019 levels, North American (84%) and Latin American and Caribbean (81%) flights.
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Passenger revenues during the second quarter were up 6.4% on the same period of 2019, helping to offset the lower capacity and higher fuel costs, due to passenger revenue yield 10.6% higher than three years ago.
"In the second quarter we returned to profit for the first time since the start of the pandemic following a strong recovery in demand across all our airlines. This result supports our outlook for a full year operating profit.
"Our performance reflected a significant increase in capacity, load factor and yield compared to the first quarter," said Luis Gallego, CEO of IAG. "Premium leisure remains strong while business travel continues a steady recovery in all airlines.
"Iberia and Vueling were the best performing carriers within the group. The Spanish domestic market and routes to Latin America continued to lead the recovery with demand exceeding 2019 levels last month.
"Forward bookings show sustained strength and North Atlantic demand continues to grow following the lifting of the US COVID testing requirements in June. Although bookings into the fourth quarter are seasonally low at this time of year, we are seeing no signs of any weakness in demand."
Gallego said the cap on passenger numbers at London Heathrow had been an "acute" challenge to operations, adding: "We will continue working with the industry to address these issues as aviation emerges from its biggest crisis ever.
"In line with our net zero commitment by 2050, we have announced the addition of 50 new Boeing 737s and 59 Airbus A320 Neo family aircraft subject to shareholder approval. These modern, fuel-efficient planes will see us over 60% through our short-haul fleet replacement by 2028.
"As we build back operational resilience, our strong portfolio of brands, ability to deliver efficiencies through our group scale, strong capital discipline and our leadership position in sustainability will generate long term shareholder value."
IAG expects to report a "significantly improved" operating profit for the third quarter and for its full-year results to be positive, with net cash flow from operating activities expected to be "significantly positive for the year," assuming there are no further setbacks from Covid.
Net debt is expected to increase by year-end compared with the end of 2021, the company said.
