With International Airlines Group (IAG – the owner of British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling and LEVEL) announcing its fiscal results today, there are a lot of orders that have been announced.
Let us break down what’s going where:
New Orders
- 21 Airbus A330-900neo
- 32 Boeing 787-10
The aircraft are mainly for replacement, with around one-third for growth in IAG’s core markets. The likely targets are Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL (of which none operate Boeing 787-10s yet). It is expected that these will be available for delivery between 2028 and 2033.
The new orders also carry 10 purchase rights for 787s and up to 13 purchase rights for A330-900s.
This marks the first time that IAG has opted for the A330neo family of aircraft
Options exercised
- Six Airbus A350-900 – These will go to Iberia
- Six Airbus A350-1000 – These will go to British Airways
- Six Boeing 777-9 – These will go to British Airways
The aircraft will be delivered between 2027 and 2030, as part of the airline’s drive to operational efficiency, reduce emissions and enhance onboard products for customers.
Deliveries
IAG has had a quiet delivery period, with nine aircraft joining the fleet (1 A320neo to Aer Lingus, 2 A320neo to British Airways and 2 A321XLR to Iberia, with 4 A320ceo joining via direct lease
In Quotes
Announcing the results, Luis Gallego, IAG Chief Executive Officer, said:
“Our strong first quarter results reflect the performance of our businesses and the effectiveness of our strategy and transformation. We continue to deliver on our industry-leading financial targets.
“We remain focused on strengthening our broad portfolio of market-leading brands across our core markets of the North Atlantic,
Latin America and intra-Europe.“We continue to see resilient demand for air travel across all our markets, particularly in the premium cabins and despite the macroeconomic uncertainty.
“Our commitment to financial strength and shareholder value is reflected in €530 million of share buybacks completed in 2025 so far, alongside a proposed final dividend of €288 million, which brings our total dividend for 2024 to €435 million.”
Going for big
It’s interesting to see the order announce this size of an order outside an airshow, rather than through its results.
And it shows IAG is wanting to invest in the long-term future and long-haul markets, with it ordering 71 aircraft, with further options to take if needed.
The introduction of the A330neo is a logical move, given that three subsidiaries use the type as part of their long-haul fleets (Iberia, Aer Lingus and LEVEL), and that some of those A330s are not getting younger (remember that Aer Lingus took delivery of the last two A330ceo aircraft produced).
That just leaves the 787-10s. These are currently flown by British Airways, but could end up anywhere in the group, especially if the A330s are redirected to different parts of the group.
Interesting times.
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