IAG, owner of Aer Lingus, buys 50 Boeing 737 Max aircraft

Aer Lingus and British Airways owner IAG have agreed to purchase 50 Boeing 737 aircraft for use by any airline in the group.

The planes will be delivered between 2023 and 2027, IAG said in a statement Thursday.

The aircraft were acquired at a “significant discount,” according to the airline, and the deal includes an option for an additional 100 aircraft.

The order includes 25 Boeing 737-8200 and 25 737-10 aircraft, which are part of the Boeing Max range, which was grounded for two years after two fatal crashes.

“The addition of new Boeing 737s is an important part of IAG’s short-haul fleet renewal,” said Luis Gallego, Chief Executive of IAG.

“These latest-generation aircraft are more fuel-efficient than those they will replace and are in line with our commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

The fleet order is subject to IAG shareholder approval.

IAG reported an operating loss of 731 million euros for the first quarter, down 32 percent from the (adjusted) loss of more than 1 billion euros in the same period last year.

Losses after taxes and exceptional items were 787 million euros in the first quarter, down almost 27 percent from more than 1 billion euros in the first three months of 2021.

Total revenue for the first quarter was 3.4 billion euros, with passenger revenue of 2.6 billion euros.

Passenger capacity in the first three months of 2022 was 65 percent of 2019 capacity, up from 58 percent at the end of December.

For the year as a whole, it is planning passenger capacity of around 80 percent of the 2019 level.

Mr Gallego said the group expects to return to profitability in the second quarter and for the full year.

In its consolidated results for the year ended March 31, IAG said the lifting of Covid measures, particularly in the UK, had resulted in a “precipitous increase in capacity” at British Airways and Heathrow Airport.