Ramla SoniThe owner of British Airways, IAG, says digital health checks will help travel to recover this summer, after the pandemic led it to a record loss of €7.4bn ($9bn, £6.4bn) last year.
Due to strict travel rules, people are left more reluctant to travel abroad leaving some airlines with the need for more funding.
But after taking on new loans, IAG said it had €10.3bn of liquidity and was well set to come out of the crisis.
“We’ve got very strong liquidity going into 2021 ... so no, we will not need additional funding,” finance chief Steve Gunning said.
For January to March, IAG said it expected to fly about 20 per cent of 2019’s capacity, compared to the whole of 2020 when it flew at 34 per cent of capacity.
European airlines hope travel restrictions will soon be eased to allow them to make money again. This week the UK announced plans for travel abroad to possibly resume from mid-May, leading to a surge in bookings.
IAG chief executive Luis Gallego said if the UK plans went ahead, it would be a “positive summer”, but digital health passes were needed to unlock the market.
“Health passes are going to be the key to restart aviation and the travel,” said Gallego, calling for a digital system that could include test results and proof of vaccination.
Several countries are considering health passports so travel sees a comeback, but are worried about risks to civil liberties. However, London’s Heathrow airport warned this week that dealing with a big rise in passengers would not be possible with current paper-based checks.
IAG, which also owns Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling, said it could not give profit guidance for 2021 due to the uncertainty of the pandemic.
IAG shares were up four per cent at 194 pence in morning trading.
