The Winners and Losers of Europe’s 2024 Airline Battle

As we discussed earlier this week, there is a spectrum of performance between Europe’s three leading low-cost carriers. However, these variations aren’t unique to Ryanair, EasyJet, and Wizz Air. We see exactly the same disparity between the three major network carrier groups.

In a moment, we’ll examine the fortunes of Air France-KLM and the Lufthansa Group, but first let’s take a closer look at IAG. 

The parent company of flag carriers British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus was easily the strongest performer in 2024. It reported a third quarter profit after tax of €1.43 billion ($1.49bn), a 16.6% increase year on year. Profit for nine months to the end of September was €2.34 billion, up 8.7% over the same period in 2023.

The core reason for IAG’s strong results is its heavy exposure to the buoyant North Atlantic market. For context, over half of the company’s long-haul capacity was in the North Atlantic in 2024, as measured by available seat kilometers.

This puts it well ahead of its peers and it is primarily to the benefit of British Airways and Aer Lingus. BA also taps into a large premium segment flying to and from London, and specifically its hub at Heathrow Airport.

However, IAG’s recent success is not limited to the North Atlantic. The group also benefited from strong Spanish and Latin American traffic to the advantage of Iberia and low-cost operator Vueling.