The Olympics may see a drop in premium travellers visiting the UK, said the UK-based airline holding company, International Airlines Group (IAG).
The company has reported that premium traffic for the month of June 2012 has increased by 5.3 percent compared to the preceding year, while non-premium traffic increased by 9.6 percent in June 2012, from the earlier month. The company has stated that, ‘Underlying market conditions remain unchanged from last month. As we had indicated earlier in the year there is likely to be some near-term softness in premium traffic due to the Olympic Games.’
The company, which is the parent company of British Airways, has reported an increase in revenue passenger kilometres of 8.9 percent in June 2012, compared to June 2011, and an increase of 5.9 percent on a like for like basis. The group capacity, which is measured by available seat kilometres, is also up by 5.8 percent in June 2012, compared to that in June 2011.
The company has reported that it ferried around 5 million passengers in June 2012, from its two airlines, British Airlines and Iberia, an increase of 11.6 percent, from that of 4.5 million in June 2011. Passenger traffic for the first six months of 2012 has increased by 3.7 percent, to 25.7 million, compared to the same period in 2011.
Earlier, Ryanair, an Ireland-based low cost airline, reported an additional 460,000 passengers in June 2012, with a load factor of 84 percent, and Easyjet, a UK-based airline, has reported an additional 480,000 passengers in June 2012.
