Aer Lingus owner to post €3bn loss
Profitability would depend on how much capacity IAG can operate next year, Mr Gallego said.
The chief executive of Aer Lingus owner IAG has said he is "very optimistic" about the full reopening of transatlantic routes, adding that if it is able to operate 90% of capacity by next summer it will return to profitability.
Asked about the transatlantic reopening, Luis Gallego said: "We are very optimistic and I think we are going to have 100% of the capacity that we flew in 2019 next summer."
IAG owns Aer Lingus, British Airways and Spanish airlines Iberia and Vueling.
Profitability would depend on how much capacity IAG can operate next year, Mr Gallego said.
"For next summer we can operate up to 90% of the capacity that we were flying in 2019 and we are pretty sure that if we can operate that amount of flights we will come back to the profitability," he said.
IAG said cashflows turned positive in the third quarter and that North Atlantic bookings have begun to surge as the US prepares to reopen its borders to vaccinated Europeans next week.
IAG is more reliant on usually lucrative North America flights than most European airline groups and it expects to post a €3bn loss for the current year.
-Reuters and Bloomberg
