British Airways is preparing for a historic breakthrough after the pandemic: forecast

British Airways, the UK's largest airline, is forecasting a record rise in financial performance. This is evidenced by the results for the year, which were shared by the owner of British Airways, International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG).

Given that low-cost airlines such as easyJet, Ryanair, and Wizz Air have recently recovered faster from the pandemic in the short-haul sector, the new data will help assess the capabilities of premium long-haul carriers. The situation with British Airways' financial performance is described in the ProactiveInvestors article.

According to analysts, investors are scared, thinking that IAG is losing market share to low-cost carriers, at least on short-haul flights.

In addition, the airline's results were affected by labor unrest, the UK recession and the hemolytic situation. At the same time, AJ Bell analysts are confident that the British flag carrier will be able to achieve good results this year, as passengers have returned to the skies in full after the covid restrictions.

In their opinion, in 2023, sales should reach a record 29.4 billion euros, which is 27% more than last year.

The underlying operating profit at this time will amount to 3.5 billion euros, exceeding the previous peak in 2018, according to AJ Bell.

It is worth noting that investors expect information on capacity and utilization rates both for 2023 and the following year. For example, at the end of 2022, the capacity level was 87% of the pre-pandemic level, and the load factor was 81.8%.

Fuel costs and revenue data are also expected. It is worth noting that IAG shares fell 8.5% over the year and on Thursday amounted to 153.35 pence.

As TravelWise previously reported, tourists have the opportunity to upgrade from economy to business class on an airplane.