International Airlines Group, the parent of British Airways and Iberia, has published a rise in traffic during December. Premium-class travel was up by 13.6 per cent up on the same month a year earlier and non-premium traffic rose by 12 per cent. Passenger load factor was also up to 77.6 per cent, a rise of [...]

Top airline executives in the British Isles are once again urging the Government to axe the UK’s air passenger duty (APD) tax. Willie Walsh, the head official for International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of British Airways and Iberia, has united with Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary, Carolyn Mcall of easyJet and Steve Ridgeway, chief executive [...]

International Airlines Group has announced that it has reached a deal to acquire BMI from its German owners. IAG, the parent firm of British Airways and Iberia, said in an official statement released on Thursday that it had signed a £172.5 million deal and hoped the acquisition would be completed within the first three months [...]

The merger of Chile’s LAN, and Brazilian carrier TAM, has been given the go ahead by the Brazilian anti-trust regulators. The tie-up was first mooted in 2010 and the new airline is to be called LATAM. It will operate to 23 countries, and 115 different destinations. Together TAM and LAN carried 45 million passengers last [...]

Consumer group Which? has revealed its latest list of the best airlines for travel to destinations around the world. Among carriers heading to the Spanish mainland and Balearics, which is the international region that host the largest number of British holidaymakers worldwide, Jet2.com took the top spot, followed by UK flag carrier British Airways, Monarch [...]

BMI has said it has not yet chosen a buyer. The troubled company is at the centre of a bidding war in which International Airlines Group (IAG), British Airway’s parent company, and Virgin Atlantic seek the Lufthansa-owned entity in order to take hold of its valuable landing slots at overcrowded Heathrow airport. The news comes [...]

Bosses of four major airlines in the UK have slammed the government’s consultation over Air Passenger Duty, calling it a sham. Despite powerful figures in the travel industry repeatedly asking that the tax be scrapped, the government has announced that there will be no significant changes. Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways and Iberia [...]

British Airways has said that it will hire half as many workers in 2012 as previously thought because of scheduled 8 per cent rise in Air Passenger Duty rates. Willie Walsh, chief executive of IAG, BA’s parent firm, told reporters that the benefits of the government’s efforts to raise the tax would be overshadowed by [...]

Virgin boss, Sir Richard Branson, said that the use of carbon-free biofuels could transform the airline industry into one of the cleanest on the planet in just a decade. The entrepreneur claims that all that is needed is a breakthrough, after which the transformation would be swift. He added that it was not inconceivable that [...]

Air France has said it should be able to double revenues in the Chinese market in around six years, if it can maintain current growth rates. The optimistic forecast came on Friday via newly appointed chief executive of Air France-KLM, Alexandre de Juniac. The company head said to reporters from a Chinese newspaper that growth [...]