IAG traffic up 13.6% in June

British Airways and Iberia parent International Consolidated Airlines said group traffic, as measured in revenue passenger kilometres, rose 13.6% in June from last year.

The airline, which also owns Aer Lingus and Vueling, said group capacity measured in available seat kilometres was up 13.2%.

On a pro-forma basis, group traffic was up 3.5% and group capacity was 3.3% higher.

Meanwhile, group premium traffic for the month of June increased 0.1% on a pro-forma basis.

The load factor – which measures how full flights were – nudged up to 84% from 83.7% in June 2015.

On 28 June, Iberia launched its new route between Madrid and Shanghai. It is operating three flights per week on an A330-200 equipped with new long-haul cabins.

In a statement on the day it emerged the UK had voted to leave the European Union, IAG said the outcome would not have a long-term material impact on its business but cautioned that in the short term and in the run-up to the referendum, it had experienced a weaker-than-expected trading environment.

"Following the outcome of the referendum, and given current market volatility, while IAG continues to expect a significant increase in operating profit this year, it no longer expects to generate an absolute operating profit increase similar to 2015," the company said on 24 June.

At 1518 BST, AIG shares were up 1.5% to 380.50p.